A new study published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine has found that many insured adults are seeking less primary care or visiting primary care providers (PCPs) less often than they did 10 years ago.
Researchers looked at data from an insurer that offers health coverage to over 20 million Americans per year and found that PCP visits made by people under the age of 65 had reduced by 25 percent between 2008 and 2016.
Study author Dr. Ishani Ganguli from Brigham and Women’s Hospital said, “It [primary care] is the foundation of the health care system.”
“Primary care has all kinds of benefits both for patients but also for populations,” she added.
Studies have found that seeing a PCP for routine care helps people to stay healthier.
Chief Data Officer at Alliant Health Solutions Dr. Kimberly Rask said, “We should be concerned. The consistency of the decline in such visits across all demographics was surprising.”
The study showed that younger people and those with low incomes had large decreases in PCP visits; however, it showed up across all age groups, as well as income levels.
Surprisingly, the researchers found that preventive checkups with PCP increased. That’s because the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) made such appointments free, or at least cheaper, for many Americans. However, PCP visits for problems such as a sore throat, flu or other symptoms decreased by more than 30 percent.
“There is a lot of data showing that when you raise health care costs, people will receive less care,” said Dr. Rask says. “But it doesn’t mean that they only stop unnecessary care. They will reduce both necessary and unnecessary care.”
