The Doctor Doesn’t Need to See You Now

According to a new Census release from Monday, Americans (including those in poor health) are visiting medical providers less often than a decade ago…

According to the report, most Americans consider themselves to be quite healthy: nearly two in three (66 percent) reported their health as being either “excellent” or “very good.” Another 24 percent said their health was “good,” while 8 percent described it as “fair” and 2 percent as “poor.” Non-Hispanic blacks were more likely to consider their health to be fair or poor (13 percent) than non-Hispanic whites (10 percent) or Hispanics (9 percent).

Among working-age adults who reported that their health was either fair or poor, the average number of annual visits dropped from 12.9 to 11.6 over the 2001 to 2010 period. The corresponding numbers fell from 5.3 to 4.2 visits for those reporting good health and from 3.2 to 2.5 among those who said their health was excellent or very good.

The research also found in 2010 that women (78 percent) were more likely than men (67 percent) to see a doctor, Hispanics were the least likely ethnic group to see a doctor (42 percent didn’t go once), and young adults (63 percent of those aged 18 to 24) are far less likely to visit a doctor than those past retirement age (92 percent of those aged 65 and older).