High Costs Force Third of Americans to Skip Needed H...(sis for developing a national health-car...),Health

The online 2008 Health Care for America Survey, sponsored by the AFL-CIO and Working America, the union's outreach program, surveyed 26,419 people between Jan. 14 and March 3, 2008.

Among those surveyed, 95 percent said health care in America needed fundamental change or a complete overhaul. Seventy-four percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said health care was a very important election issue, as did 80 percent of 50- to 64-year olds.

More than 50 percent of those with health insurance said their insurance didn't cover the care they need at a price they can pay. Typical problems include not being able to afford prescription drugs, follow-up care or preventive care, the survey found. This was particularly true for people who buy their own health insurance, compared with those who get health insurance through their job.

Among college graduates, one-third said they or a family member had to skip medical care because of cost. Forty-six percent of those surveyed said out-of-pocket costs for health care in the past year ranged from $1,000 to $5,000. Seventeen percent spent more than $5,000, according to the survey.

For Medicare recipients, 53 percent said their prescription drug costs weren't covered or affordable, even though they had prescription drug coverage under Medicare part D.

Among the uninsured, 76 percent said that someone in their family didn't see a doctor during the past year when they were sick because of cost. And 57 percent of the uninsured said they had to choose between paying medical costs or their rent, mortgage or utilities.

Ninety-five percent of those surveyed said they were concerned about being able to afford health insurance in the coming years. Sixty-one percent with employer-based health insurance said their costs had gotten worse in the last few years.

One critic of the survey, Mike Tuffin, executive vice
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