Rising healthcare costs have become a significant burden for the nation, its businesses and American families. Families have seen their health insurance premiums increase by almost 130 percent in the past decade while their out-of-pocket spending has risen by almost 80 percent. Because of these increases, families’ real income has been essentially flat for the past decade as growing healthcare costs have consumed increases in people’s wages and income.
To date, affordable healthcare has been examined mostly through the lens of payers. To understand the impact of healthcare costs on patients and consumers, NQF, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, organized a two-day meeting in March that brought together key stakeholders including patients and families, consumers, health plans, researchers, clinicians, and community health experts.
The discussion revealed that while patients and consumers primarily judge whether care is affordable based on how much of their household budget is spent on healthcare, a host of other factors influence their perspective, such as whether the care was high quality, the options available for their healthcare needs, and how they were able to balance the other demands of their daily lives with their healthcare. These factors are complex and often change depending on the particular type of decision patients are making. Too often, lack of information can be a barrier to making informed choices.
NQF recently released a report, consumer fact sheet (PDF), and an infographic (PDF) to address these complexities, resulting from an in-depth look at the rising cost of healthcare, how patients define affordability, and what information and changes are needed for consumers to get the best possible healthcare at the lowest possible cost.
“Consumers and patients are often unsure of what questions to ask to get the answers they need to find affordable care,” said Christine K. Cassel, M.D., president and CEO, National Quality Forum. “This new work provides consumers with key questions and resources they can use to help them find the best care at the best price.”