Americans Spending More on Health Care This Year

Forty percent of Americans are spending more money on health care compared to a year ago, according to a new report by Bankrate.com, which found that only 8 percent are spending less.

Twenty-eight percent of Americans said they are feeling more negative about the Affordable Care Act now than they were 12 months ago, twice as many as the 14 percent who indicated they are feeling more positive. One out of four of the survey respondents said it is more difficult to handle medical expenses now than it was a year ago (more than three times as many as those who say it is easier).

Americans’ biggest question about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is how it will affect their current health coverage. Twenty-eight percent said this is what they would most like to know about the new law, followed by the 24 percent who said they want to know how it will affect their household budgets. Twenty percent said they are most curious about whether the Affordable Care Act is really going to happen, and 15 percent said their top question is simply what Obamacare is.

“We’re just three weeks away from when the new health insurance exchanges will begin accepting applications, and we're still observing a disturbing lack of consumer education,” said Bankrate.com insurance analyst Doug Whiteman. “If this doesn’t change soon, millions of Americans could miss important deadlines or make uninformed decisions.”

The full results of Bankrate.com’s new Health Insurance Pulse monthly survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, can found here.

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