Poll: 46% worry about future costs

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Washington considers overhauling the nation’s health-care system, a new poll finds considerable concern about health costs, with nearly half of all Americans worried about paying for future care.

Nearly one in four people expressed fear of losing coverage in the next year. About the same number reported that they or a family member delayed seeing a doctor in the past year because of what it might cost.

The survey, released Wednesday, was conducted by the University of Michigan to measure consumer confidence in the health-care system. The study was financed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a health-care philanthropy.

In its measure of consumer confidence about insurance coverage and access to care, the poll found a drop of 1.3 points from April to May. The confidence index, which the pollster and foundation officials initiated in May, was fixed at 100 points and dropped to 98.7.

Overall, 46 percent of those polled worried they would not be able to afford health care in the future. In February, the government estimated that health-care costs this year would average $8,160 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. — an increase of $356 per person from 2008.