Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions
Costs Are Keeping Americans Out of the Doctor’s Office
Key clinical point: Patients are skipping health care because of rising costs.
Major finding: There was a 2.7 percentage point increase in individuals forgoing care because of cost over the past 2 decades.
Study details: Researchers analyzed survey data from January 1998 through December 2017 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
Disclosures: Dr. Hawks received funding support from an Institutional National Research Service award and from Cambridge Health Alliance, her employer. Other authors reported membership in Physicians for a National Health Program.
Hawks L et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2020 Jan 27. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.6538.