A study finds half of Obamacare customers are cutting back on care to manage costs.
Obamacare customers are acting more cost-conscious than other people with insurance — and it could be affecting their health.
A new survey finds that 50 percent of people who buy health plans through government-run Obamacare marketplaces say they cut back on getting health care services as they try to manage costs.
That can include not going to the doctor as often when they’re sick, skipping preventative care visits and lab tests, and delaying elective surgeries.
In contrast, just 33 percent of all people with any form of insurance report cutting back on health care to manage costs, according to the survey by GfK, a marketing and customer research firm.
The same survey found that Obamacare marketplace customers with lower incomes, less than $25,000 annually, are much more likely to use what are often lower-cost urgent care facilities and “minute clinics” to get health services than Obamacare customers with higher earnings.
GfK found that 27 percent of lower-income Obamacare customers visited such a walk-in clinic in the past year, compared with 12 percent of all Obamacare customers.
Among all Obamacare customers, about one out of every four said they have switched to a lower-cost health plan to save money. Yet despite just 6 percent of Obamacare customers reported shopping around to find a better prices.