PM360 March 2011

Consumer Healthcare Trends

THE ECONOMY/HEALTH CONNECTION – Understanding How Financial Concerns Drive Treatment Behaviors
BY CHRIS DEANGELIS

IN A STUDY SURVEY SAMPLING INTERNATIONAL (SSI) CONDUCTED WITH ITS PANEL members across the U.S., Europe, and Asia at the end of 2010, we found more than half of respondents rate “improving the economy” as their top concern for 2011. Respondents from Japan (70%) and the U.S. (71%) are most focused on financial changes.

What do continued financial concerns mean for healthcare? To find out, SSI performed a new study in January 2011, delving into how healthcare behaviors around the world are affected by lingering economic uncertainty. Across the eight countries studied—the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, and Singapore—we found that 15% of participants have reduced spending on medical treatment in the last year due to their financial situation. The percentage of consumers cutting medical spend is highest in the U.S. (21%). China (20%) and Germany (19%) also are seeing about a fifth of respondents making medical cuts, as consumers struggle with financial worries. Conversely, only 5% of participants in the U.K.—where healthcare is provided to all permanent residents— have decreased their medical spend.

How Have Consumer Spend Cuts Impacted Rx Drug Behaviors?
The most common practice for saving money on prescription drugs is to switch from brand names to generics. About a third of U.S. consumers have switched to a generic to save money. The U.S. is not the market, however, where moving to a generic to save money is most prevalent. Almost half of French respondents and 39% of Australian respondents have switched to generics to cut medical costs, even though each of those countries offers some form of government-sponsored healthcare. China is on par with the U.S., with about a third of participants saying they have switched to generics to reduce expenses.

In most countries, switching to an OTC drug is the second most common change patients make to save money on their medical treatments. About a quarter of U.S. respondents have replaced a prescription medication with an OTC drug in the past year as a way to cut costs. In China and Singapore, slightly more than a quarter have made the move to OTC treatments. Japanese patients (7%) are the least likely to choose OTCs as a cost-saving measure.

Most worrisome is the fact that a group of patients in all countries has reduced drug dosages to realize savings. In the U.S., 7% of respondents report reducing their dosage to decrease their costs. But that number soars to 19% in China—and hits 10% in Germany and Singapore.

How Does Employment Status Affect Health Behaviors?
Focusing on the U.S., we see that employment status has a significant impact on health behaviors. Among the unemployed, 51% have reduced their medical spend over the last year compared to 38% of the employed. Digging deeper, we see that 36% of the unemployed have postponed non-emergency medical treatment compared to 21% of the employed. In addition, 39% of the unemployed have postponed elective surgeries compared to 30% of the employed. A key reason for the discrepancies in healthcare behaviors is insurance coverage. While 85% of those employed say they are insured, just 64% of the unemployed are covered. Among those who are covered, 60% have employers who pay all or part of their premiums.

Conclusions
As we move forward in 2011, economic concerns continue to plague consumers— and impact healthcare. While about a third of respondents across the globe expect to see improvements in the economy over the next year, almost the same percentage anticipates worsening conditions. With economic worries clearly impacting healthcare behaviors, it’s critical that we continue to track the effects of financial concerns on patients’ treatment decisions—and work to ensure that patients’ desire to cut their costs doesn’t translate into the need for them to compromise their health.

Chris DeAngelis is Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, at Survey Sampling International. He can be reached at 203-567-7220 or Chris_DeAngelis@ SurveySampling.com
Email your question to Chris DeAngelis, our Online/Offline Research Sampling expert, for the answer.