A new study is showing that parents are not taking their children to the doctor due to a lack of insurance. A child’s health is very important to their parents. Making sure our children is incredibly important, and part of that is taking them to the doctor. When it comes to the doctor, it is important to take them to the doctor when they are ill, but it is also important to take them for regular wellness check-ups to make sure they are growing appropriately, physically, and developmentally. However, there are roadblocks to medical care, and the pandemic has made these known.
The COVID-19 pandemic gave everyone a lot more to worry about than just a virus. It was made very clear that families were struggling with other issues, some made worse by the pandemic. According to Study Finds and Tempus, families were not taking their children to the doctor due to lack of insurance.
When a survey was given:
•58% of adults said that they were staying away from the doctor’s office to avoid coming into contact with the virus.
•51% said that the cost of care was what was keeping them away
•When it came to parents, 61% of them said that at some point during the pandemic, they stopped care that they were previously receiving
Half of the parents surveyed said that they had missed medical appointments for their children. These appointments were either just routine check-ups or appointments for an illness or injury. Researchers stated that this is likely directly related to the number of Americans who have lost their jobs and insurance during COVID-19. When it came to the survey, 48% said that the reason they put off the appointment was due to losing income or their health insurance.
It was highlighted that appointments were returning and patients began to seek out their medical professionals1, but they cannot ignore what was missed over the past year.
Healthcare is important, but preventative healthcare should be a priority for children. Routine appointments are important to try and “catch” an issue while it is small and minor before it turns into something much bigger. However, with parents concerned about being exposed to the virus and the issue with losing their health insurance, it has pointed out that the medical system may need some reform and that is why studies like these are so incredibly important.
Sources: Study Finds, Tempus