The Rising Cost of a Lifetime of Healthcare

We shared some powerful new research this week. According to our Synchrony Lifetime of Healthcare Costs study, the average American who purchases their own insurance may pay upwards of $700,000+ in healthcare expenses over their adult lifetime ($320,000+ for those in an employee-sponsored health insurance plan)! The study also found that, unlike saving for a new home or college tuition, most Americans do not save for healthcare expenses.

As I highlighted recently, we all know healthcare costs continue to rise and the burden of out-of-pocket expenses is only intensifying further with the growth in high deductible healthcare plans. There’s a clear and growing need for consumers to have access to the financial solutions that empower them with choice — choice in how and when they manage the costs of planned and unplanned medical procedures, as well as elective care procedures.

A few other highlights from the study:

• More than one in four respondents said they have delayed a recommended procedure due to cost — and almost 20% of respondents ignored the recommended care completely. For those who delayed or ignored the recommended care, nearly 50% said it caused additional medical issues.
• Four out of five respondents said they do not have a dedicated savings account for unexpected health costs. Among those who do, almost half say it is not enough. Fewer than half are actively saving for future healthcare expenses; and of those who are, only 55% believe it will be enough to meet their expenses.
• 65% of Millennials and 60% of Gen Xers were not financially prepared for their most costly out-of-pocket healthcare expense. This number falls to more than 40% for Boomers and 23% for members of the Silent Generation.

For the last 35 years Synchrony has been the leader in patient care financing, but we know there’s more we can do to expand accessibility to our patient financing product suite, including our CareCredit credit card, available at our more than 260,000 provider locations, 20 health systems and via approximately 75% of the country's dental and veterinarian practices.

We continue to be deeply passionate about empowering Americans to have with greater access to responsible and flexible financing options, whenever and however they need it. Which is why we continue to work to close the gap between Americans' patient needs and a suite of financial resources to help address them. We've shared a series of educational resources to help patients learn more about healthcare costs and the financial solutions here.