Consumers Cut Health Spending

As the credit crunch threatens to throw the economy into a deep slump, Americans are already cutting back on health care, a sector once thought to be invulnerable to recession. Spending on everything from doctors appointments to preventive tests to ethical drug drugs is nether pressure. The number of prescriptions filled in the U.S. fell 0.5% in the introductory quarter and a steeper 1.97% in the second, compared with the same periods in 2007 -- the first negative quarters in at least(prenominal) a decade, according to data from market researcher IMS Health. scorn an aging and growing U.S. population, the number of physician office visits alike has been declining since the end of 2006. Between July 2007 and 2008, the most recent month for which data are available, visits fell 1.2%, according to IMS. In a value by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners last month, 22% of 686 consumers said that economy-related woes were causing them to go to the doctor less often. rough 11% said theyve scaled back on prescription drugs to save money. Some of the areas being hit include hep and knee replacements, mammograms, and visits to the emergency room, according to a survey conducted by D2Hawkeye Inc., a Waltham, Mass., medical data analytics firm, on behalf of The Wall path Journal.

Since sales at the Sebring, Fla.-area car dealership where Christopher Pye works deport dwindled, so have the commissions that were 40% of his income in good times. scarce able to afford his $850 monthly mortgage and pay for groceries, he says something had to give: his two young sons annual medical checkups. Its entirely a little too expensive right now, says Mr. Pye, 32 years old, who says he cant afford to have his family on the company health plan or to pay up front for the visits. This month, Mr. Pye is canceling his own insurance, hoping the $56 hell save in weekly premiums will pay for the exams of his boys, ages 3 and 4, later. Health-policy experts say that patients... If you neediness to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

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