A new survey is taking the temperature of boomers’ concern over their ability to pay medical bills.
A survey team hired by Aflac Inc., Columbus, Ga., polled 2,091 U.S. residents ages 18 and older.
About 74% of all of the participants without health coverage and 37% of the participants with health coverage said they have considered not going to the doctor because of worries about costs.
The researchers also found that 32% of the participants were concerned about the possibility of needing to declare bankruptcy someday due to unexpected medical bills.
Only 25% of the survey participants born before 1946 and 29% of the youngest participants worry about medical bills leading to bankruptcy, but 37% of the boomers worry about medical bill-related bankruptcy, according to Aflac.
Boomers “own more stuff, and they’re older,” says Lance Osborne, vice president of field force development at Aflac. “They’ve also seen their parents deal with health care problems and long term care issues.”