Nearly 6 million American adults turned to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the past year to treat such conditions as depression and chronic pain because conventional medical treatment was too expensive, according to a national study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).
People using CAM because of cost concerns were four times as likely to be uninsured (37% vs. 9%) as the 38 million adults who used CAM to treat specific health conditions but who did not cite cost of conventional medicine as a reason for doing so, according to the study based on the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative government survey that includes information on about 31,000 adults.
People using complementary medicine because of cost concerns were almost twice as likely to have low incomes-defined as below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or $36,200 for a family of four in 2002-and were much more likely to report fair or poor health status and lack a regular place to go to receive medical care, the study found. They also were much more likely to report overall unmet medical needs—and unmet mental health and prescription drug needs—because of costs
"The high cost of conventional medical care is prompting many Americans to seek alternatives that may be of questionable value," said Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., president of HSC, a nonpartisan policy research organization funded principally by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The study's findings are detailed in a new HSC Data Bulletin—High Cost of Medical Care Prompts Consumers to Seek Alternatives.