Doctor: Money worries cause patients to put off preventive care

Writing in his blog on the Wall Street Journal’s Web site, Dr. Benjamin Brewer reports that he has noticed that some of his patients, faced with gas prices and other economic worries, have begun to forgo preventive care (Source: “Tough Times Prompt Patients to Skip Care,” Wall Street Journal Online, July 23, 2008).

For example, he says a 59-year-old patient told him she is not going to have a mammogram or colon cancer screening until she becomes eligible for Medicare at 65.

“Rising deductibles, stiff drug co-payments and increasing prices for just about everything are forcing some hard choices about health,” Brewer writes. “Care that doesn't strike patients as critical is getting delayed. As the economy squeezes my patients, they are showing up sicker.”