WSJ - Consumers Cut Health Spending, As Economic Downturn Takes Toll

[Guest guest]

Just as some of you mentioned already -- patients are skipping visits due to the economy - although, interestingly, some of the downward trend in doctor visits began in 2006 - before the current financial crisis.

Maybe doctors are just doing too good a job of keeping their patients healthy. :-)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122204987056661845.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122204987056661845.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Consumers Cut Health Spending, As Economic Downturn Takes Toll

As the credit crunch threatens to throw the economy into a deep slump, Americans are already cutting back on health care, a sector once thought to be invulnerable to recession. Spending on everything from doctors' appointments to preventive tests to prescription drugs is under pressure.

The number of prescriptions filled in the U.S. fell 0.5% in the first quarter and a steeper 1.97% in the second, compared with the same periods in 2007 -- the first negative quarters in at least a decade, according to data from market researcher IMS Health.

Despite an aging and growing U.S. population, the number of physician office visits also has been declining since the end of 2006.

Between July 2007 and 2008, the most recent month for which data are available, visits fell 1.2%, according to IMS.

snip-snip - go to link for full article.

Locke, MD