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November 16, 2008More than half of US chronically ill adults skip needed care due to costs |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: In a Web Exclusive in the journal Health Affairs, the eight-country survey finds that U.S. patients are significantly more likely to call for fundamental change in their country's health care system, with a third saying the system needs to be rebuilt completely. The 2008 survey of 7,500 chronically ill patients in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States included adults who had a diagnosis of at least one of seven chronic conditions. More than half (54%) of U.S. chronically ill patients did not get recommended care, fill prescriptions, or see a doctor when sick because of costs, compared to 7 to 36 percent in other countries. "Patients are telling us about inefficient, unsafe and often wasteful care. Moreover, a lack of access as well as poor coordination of care is putting chronically ill patients at even higher health risk." U.S. patients were the most likely to find it very difficult to get after-hours care without going to an emergency room: 40 percent said it was very difficult, compared with only 15 percent in the Netherlands and Germany, the lowest rates of any country on this measure. In the past two years, 59 percent of U.S. patients visited an emergency room; only Canada had higher rates (64%). Patient reports of any error were lowest in the Netherlands (17%), France (18%), and Germany (19%). Patients leaving with new medications often reported failure to discuss all medications they were taking, ranging from 23 percent in Germany to 41 percent or more in Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
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