"Nearly one-third (30%) of Americans skipped needed medical care in the past three months due to cost, the highest reported number since the COVID-19 pandemic began and a threefold increase from March to October", the survey said.
"An estimated 150 million Americans (59%) say they are now more worried about the cost of healthcare services and 45% are more worried about the cost of prescription drugs", the poll noted.
"Americans have reached their breaking point", Shelley Lyford, president and CEO of nonprofit West Health, said. "Between March and October, the percentage of people reporting trouble paying for healthcare, skipping treatments, and not filling their prescriptions spiked to their highest levels since the pandemic began, exacerbating another public health threat borne out of cost rather than illness".