As the economy remains poor, the cost of health care remains a growing concern to consumers, according to Deloitte's 2011 Survey of Health Care Consumers, which interviewed respondents in the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Among the U.S. respondents, 75 percent say the recent economic slowdown has affected their health care spending, with 41 percent saying they are spending more cautiously, 20 percent saying they have reduced spending, and 13 percent saying their spending has been cut considerably. Sixty-three percent report that their monthly health care spending restricts their ability to purchase other living needs, including housing, groceries, fuel and education.
To cut down on costs, 36 percent of prescription medication users have asked for generic drug substitutions over their current brand-name drugs, and 25 percent of respondents did not see a doctor when they were sick or injured. Between 4 in 10 and 5 in 10 respondents reveal they have had higher health care spending over the past year, except respondents in the United Kingdom at 22 percent, Canada at 29 percent and China at 37 percent.
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