8/6/2019 Few Bright Spots

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CMYK A3

A S H E VI L L E C I T I Z E N -T I M E S C I T I Z E N-T I M E S.CO M FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2008 A3NEWS

Some, likeJenkins, are put-ting off taking care of them-selves so they can pay the rentand put food on the table.

Doctors in WNC said more

people are canceling appoint-ments because they have losttheir insurance, or are findingit harder to afford copay-ments and deductibles even ifthey are covered.

As their finances tighten,patients are putting off elec-tive procedures, hurting somehospitals bottom lines andforgoing preventative care fordiseases like diabetes andheart disease.

Nearly half of Americanssaid someone in their familyhas had to skip pills, o r post-pone or cut back on neededmedical care in the past yearbecause ofthe cost, accordingto a survey by the Kaiser Fam-ily Foundation.

People are taking care ofessentials first, and they dontconsider health care essen-tial, said Dr. Shannon Dow-ler, medical director at SistersofMercy Urgent Care.

It seems like everyone isholding off, tightening uptheir purse strings. Healthcare is taking a back seat tonecessities like putting foodon the table and paying thegas bill.

Health care industryfeelingthe pinch

In the past, health care wasconsidered somewhat reces-sion-proof, but the currenteconomic downturn, which ishitting consumers morebroadly, may be different, saidTom Tveidt, research directorwith the Asheville AreaChamber ofCommerce.

The health care sector wasstill adding jobs in October,but growth has slowed, hesaid.

Hospitals around the coun-try are seeing declines in ad-missions and elective proce-dures and a significant jumpin patients who cant pay forcare.

Mission Hospitals, the re-gions largest hospital and itslargest employer, is looking atways it can control its costs asrevenues have started to drop.Smaller hospitals, like West-Care Health System and Mur-phy Medical Center, are lay-

ing offsome workers.All hospitals are seeing a

reduction in inpatient andpaying patients and substan-tial increases in uninsuredand charity care cases, saidGary Bowers, executive di-rector of the WNC HealthNetwork. I think smaller, ru-ral hospitals, they have beenhaving a hard time for yearsregardless of the economicdownturn.

Miriam Schwarz, CEO ofthe Buncombe County Medi-cal Society, said health carehas become more susceptibleto downturns in the economyas more working people findthemselves without health in-surance or with plans that

cover fewer services and havehigh copayments and deduct-ibles.

About half of all NorthCarolinians had he alth insur-ance through an employer in2007, according to the statesInstitute ofMedicine.

Nearly half of all patientsenrolled in the medical soci-etys Project Access program,which provides free medicalcare to low-income uninsuredpatients in the county, areworking.

We always counted on theemployer-sponsored insur-ance system to carry usthrough and its unravelingbefore our eyes, Schwarzsaid.

Forgoing medical carePrimary care doctors in

WNC said patients startedcanceling appointmentswhen gasoline prices werehigh, a situation that was exa-cerbated by the gas shortageat the end ofSeptember.

MAHECs Family HealthCenters saw cancellationrates as high as 10 percent attimes, said Dr. Blake Fagan,di-rector of the MAHEC FamilyMedicine Residence Pro-gram.

We assumed that whengas prices went back down,things would (improve), but

they havent, he said.Fagan said many patients

are canceling their appoint-ments and not rescheduling,

especially for follow-up onchronic medical problems

HEALTH: Manycutback on medicalcareContinued from A1

Please see HEALTH on A4

Product: ASH_Broad PubDate: 11-21-2008 Zone: Main Edition: First Page: main_03 User: DPridgen Time: 11-20-2008 22:59 Color: KYMC

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