Healthcare Access Found To “Worsen Dramatically” Over Past Decade.

McClatchy (5/8, Galewitz) reports on a study by Urban Institute researchers, published in the journal Health Affairs, which found that “tens of millions of adults under age 65 – both those with insurance and those without – saw their access to health care worsen dramatically over the past decade,” which is interpreted to mean that “more privately insured Americans are delaying treatment because of rising out-of-pocket costs, while safety-net programs for the poor and uninsured are failing to keep up with demand for care.” The study noted that while the healthcare reform law “won’t necessarily solve all those access problems,” it “does offer several new strategies, such as new payment methods to control rising costs, which could help improve access, but there’s no guarantee they will work.”

Reuters (5/8, Morgan) quotes the researchers, “If the key coverage provisions in the (law) are ruled unconstitutional or repealed, projections indicate that the numbers of uninsured people will grow. Given what we have observed over the past decade, we would be likely to see further deterioration in access to care for all adults — insured and uninsured alike.”

Related Links:

— “Health care increasingly out of reach for millions of Americans,”Phil Galewitz, McClatchy, May 7, 2012.

Posted in In The News.