More than 15% of San Antonio residents couldn’t afford to see a doctor last year, study says
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Across the nation, people of color were more likely to report being unable to afford a needed doctor’s appointment than whites, the study also noted.
Around one in six residents of the San Antonio metro area skipped a trip the the doctors because they couldn’t afford it, according to a recent study.
In the past 12 months, 15.2% people residing in the San Antonio-metro area opted not to visit a doctor because they didn’t have the money, according to a study published last month by health and financial research center HelpAdvisor. That’s the No. 6 highest rate in the nation for skipped medical appointments.
HelpAdvisor compiled its report by analyzing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 177 metropolitan areas and all 50 states.
The report found that on average, 9.3% of Americans reportedly ducked out of an appointment in the past year because they couldn’t afford it. What’s more, San Antonio isn’t the only Texas metro to have a problem with residents being unable to afford health care.
In Beaumont-Port Arthur, 17% of residents said they couldn’t afford to see a doctor in the past 12 months — the worst rate in the state. The Houston metro came in at No. 2 in the state, followed by El Paso at No. 3 and Fort Worth-Arlington at No. 4.
Across the nation, people of color were more likely to report being unable to afford a needed doctor’s appointment than whites, the study also noted.
It should come as little surprise that Texas showed so poorly. Some 18% of Lone Star State residents lacked healthcare insurance in 2021, the highest rate of uninsured residents in the nation, according to the nonpartisan think tank Every Texan.
In San Antonio, about 19.5% of the population under 65-years-old lacked health insurance in 2021, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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