New Centivo Report Reveals Nearly Half of Lower-Income Working Americans Are Afraid to Use Their Company Health Plans

The 2024 Workers Survey findings reveal a broken healthcare economy, leaving lower-income Americans behind.

The 2024 Workers Survey findings, as presented in the report, underscore the substantial impact of increasing healthcare costs on lower-income Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance. Affordability plays a crucial role in how people engage with their healthcare even among working Americans with health insurance – the combination of rising healthcare costs and the high-deductible health plan approach creates financial barriers to healthcare access, increased debt, more frequent emergency room visits, and individuals skipping out on primary care. When people forgo necessary care, they are more likely to resort to emergency room services unnecessarily. This is a challenge for working Americans, but the cumulative effects of these actions place additional strain on the overall healthcare system, thereby contributing to the continuous rise in overall healthcare costs.

The 2024 Workers Survey shows dramatic secondary effects of healthcare affordability on access and utilization for working Americans:

• 43 percent of those earning under $50,000 regularly skip necessary care due to costs, even with health insurance.
• 32 percent struggle to afford routine healthcare bills, such as copays, deductibles and coinsurance for office visits, check-ups, and bloodwork.
• 21 percent of lower-income adults report using emergency care at nearly twice the rate of their higher-income peers, even when they have a primary care provider.
• Only 16 percent of working Americans with lower household income had a specialist visit, almost 50 percent less than their higher-income peers, despite having health insurance.

Once financial barriers are removed, people are more willing to proactively engage with their health. When asked how it would affect their behavior if all visits to a primary care provider were free, 66 percent of working Americans with lower household income stated that they would visit their primary care physician more often. Moreover, 73 percent of those without a primary care physician, regardless of income level, stated they would go more often if primary care visits were free.

Centivo’s impact and momentum demonstrate the value of a primary care-centered health plan to bring affordable, accessible healthcare to all working Americans.

The report highlights the advantages of a primary care-centered health plan model like Centivo’s, which reduces costs by establishing its provider network through local partnerships with high-quality, cost-efficient health systems. Centivo’s model prioritizes primary care relationships, delivering significant savings for employers and employees while delivering improvements in access, utilization, and outcomes for working Americans.

Centivo’s impact and momentum demonstrate the value of a primary care-centered health plan with employers across America – from local bakeries and schools to Fortune 100 enterprises.

• Centivo had a record year in 2023 – nearly doubling revenue and increasing its customer base by 62 percent.
• A 36 percent reduction in the total cost of care compared to traditional health plan options across medical and prescription drugs expenses.
• Employers using Centivo’s plan benefit from a 29 percent reduction in healthcare expenses, while members enjoy a 71 percent decrease.
• 95 percent of Centivo members have a designated PCP, and members have 34 percent more visits to their primary care physicians with no deductible and free primary care.
• Centivo has continued to expand into major metros, with the potential of reaching 1 in 3 working Americans.

With healthcare costs at record highs, it is more important than ever for employers, advisors, and health plans alike to seek sustainable solutions that provide a categorically different choice for employers, rather than relying on the high-deductible health plan approach favored by too many traditional health insurance carriers today.

“We founded Centivo seven years ago after observing the inefficiency in the healthcare system and the pain that has resulted for employers and employees,” said Centivo Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ashok Subramanian. “Fast forward to today, if the fact that nearly half of lower-income working Americans are afraid to use their health insurance isn’t a compelling call to action for employers and their advisors to address these deep, systemic inequities, we can never expect to stem the tide of Americans getting sicker and losing more and more of their hard-earned income.”

The 2024 Workers Survey Methodology

Centivo commissioned SurveyUSA to conduct a comprehensive online survey aimed at understanding the perspectives of adults aged 18-64 with employer-sponsored health insurance across the United States. The survey was conducted from January 5, 2024, to January 8, 2024, and involved 2,026 participants. To enhance the reliability of the survey results, the data was weighted to align with key demographic benchmarks provided by the United States Census.

To download a copy of the full report Breaking Down & Breaking Through the Healthcare Affordability & Access Crisis, visit: https://info.centivo.com/healthcare-affordability-and-access-crisis-report