Many Americans Skip Health Care Over Cost: Study

A survey of more than 4,000 American adults by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found 20% of Americans chose not to seek medical care for a recent illness or injury, and of these, 40% said cost was the main factor.

According to the survey results, some consumers are turning to alternatives to traditional care. For instance, 15% reported visiting a retail clinic in the past year, and 34% said they would do so if it cost 50% or less of the cost of seeing a doctor. And 17% said they are seeking alternative or natural remedies before seeing a physician, compared to 12% who said they had done so in a 2009 Deloitte survey.