Half of Mass. residents overburdened by healthcare costs, study shows
Photo | Edd Cote
Healthcare workers at a UMass Memorial Health Care COVID-19 testing center.
A report conducted by Michigan nonprofit Altarum Healthcare Value Hub revealed more than half of Massachusetts residents are struggling to afford health care, according to a Monday press release from Massachusetts Medical Society.
The survey, which was conducted in May, showed 51% of the surveyed state’s residents experienced burdens from unaffordable health care, such as forgoing care.
Three-quarters of the state are worried about affording health care in the future and almost half the state is worried about affording the cost of prescription drugs, the survey showed.
The survey included about 1,150 Massachusetts adults, according to a report from the State House News Service.
Racial and economic disparities were also evidenced in the study. While 46% of white adults struggled to pay for health care, 68% of Hispanic/Latino adults and 75% of Black adults reported burdens from unaffordability.
A third of both Black respondents and Hispanic/Latino respondents said they had not filled a prescription or had skipped doses of medicine, compared to 19% of white respondents.
“Since the average income of families of color is significantly lower than that of white families, higher prescription drug prices contribute to the health care disparities between the two communities,” said Juan Cofield, president of the NAACP, New England Area Conference, in a statement.
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