For Richer or Poorer

In sickness and in health, forsaking all others, ‘til death us do part.

We are not talking about a spouse here, but rather, money. According to this survey it really doesn’t matter how much money we have, we are not going to part with it easily until they pry it from our cold, dead fingers.

Americans with relatively high-income who spurn health insurance are no more likely, perhaps even less likely, to receive preventive health care services such as cancer or cholesterol screening than those who can't afford coverage, said Joseph S. Ross, M.D., of the Yale School of Medicine here.

Even with disposable income in their wallets, Americans are not likely to spend it on preventive health care, Dr. Ross and colleagues reported in the May 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association

So according to JAMA, unless someone else (insurance carrier) is paying for the test, we won’t get it. Guess where this is going next.

"This issue is particularly relevant as the federal government promotes high-deductible insurance programs coupled with health savings accounts—a plan designed so that the beneficiary purchases medical services using discretionary funds," they wrote.

That’s right. Blame the HDHP’s. It’s not my fault I didn’t have the colonoscopy. My health plan didn’t cover it.

The results suggested that many Americans, even in the higher brackets, may not believe that preventive care such as cancer screening, cholesterol checks, or immunizations are worth the price of buying insurance or paying out-of-pocket.

The study found that 18% of respondents were uninsured, a close match to previous reports that nearly 20% of the U.S. non-Medicare population lacks health insurance.

This tracks with things explored in this forum before. Even those who can afford health insurance refuse to pay for it. Rich or poor, health insurance is an asset protection tool. The more you have the more you have to lose in a medical crisis.

But contrary to expectations, making more money did not significantly attenuate the association between being uninsured and using fewer cancer prevention services, the study found. For example, 46% of uninsured Americans making $75,000 per year or more had not undergone colorectal cancer screening, compared with 32% of uninsured Americans making less than $15,000 per year.

Your chances of having colorectal cancer screening actually INCREASE as your income drops. Go figure.

"Our research may indicate that a greater proportion of uninsured than insured adults believe that the recommended health care services are not sufficiently beneficial either to purchase using out-of-pocket funds or to receive by enrolling in health insurance," the authors suggested.

Til death us do part.