Your budget might be getting tight, but experts say that’s not an excuse to cut back on your healthcare or not fill a prescription.
Thirty-six percent of people polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation postponed needed medical care, that’s up from 29 percent in April. The non-profit, private foundation also found that a third of people skipped a recommended test or treatment and one fifth said their condition got worse as a result.
"The cost of managing that particular illness upfront is going to be much less than if they neglect that illness and it progresses overtime and then they are forced to deal with the complications," said State Cancer and Chronic Disease Control bureau chief Belinda Heimericks.
The number of prescriptions filled dropped by almost a half a percent during the quarter ending in June, the first drop in 12 years, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical and healthcare research organization.
Before you just decide not to fill that prescription, talk to your doctor, Heimericks said.
"A physician would be their first point of contact in finding out about those different kinds of programs that may be available," she said.
Physicians may also be able to help you select a less expensive medicine than the one initially prescribed, Heimericks said.
download or listen to Aurora Meyer’s story here.
