Millennials are just not that into their parent’s health care system, a new study from the Transamerica Center for Health Studies (TCHS) finds. The study looks at millennials’ attitudes towards traditional health delivery systems and finds dissatisfaction and a hunger for new solutions that fit their digital lifestyle.
The TCHS report notes that millennials are overtaking baby boomers as the largest generation in the U.S., and says their attitudes are changing the way health care is delivered in the U.S.
“Millennials represent a massive working, spending, and voting block with far-reaching economic and public policy implications,” the report said. “They are the first generation of digital natives, with boundless information and consumer power at their fingertips. They are not beholden to their predecessors in how they exercise their consumer power, especially when it comes to health care.”
Financial, coverage issues are timeless
The one thing younger Americans share with their parents? Health care stresses them out. The study notes that younger Americans have come of age with a load of student and credit card debt hanging over their head, so health care costs are very much a concern for them. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of millennials say health care costs are a significant source of stress. “One in five millennials say they cannot afford routine health care expenses,” the report found. “Millennials and Generation X (both 18 percent) have a more challenging time affording prescription drugs, compared with baby boomers (13 percent).”
The financial instability of younger Americans has led to some of them skipping coverage. Of the 16 percent of millennials who say they are uninsured, 60 percent said that they can’t afford coverage. Eleven percent said that they don’t have time to acquire coverage.
Unhappy with the system, keeping an eye on politics
According to the survey, millennials are more likely than other generations to express dissatisfaction with the health care system: 21 percent say they are “not at all” or “not very” satisfied with the quality of health care they can access. And the researchers added that their dissatisfaction that has increased since 2016.
That dissatisfaction may be expressed at the ballot box, the research suggests. While only 20 percent of Gen Y and Baby Boomers expressed concern with health care policy changes on the federal level, 30 percent of millennials said they are “extremely” or “very” aware of federal health care policy changes. They told surveyors that their biggest policy-related fear, at 29 percent, is losing health coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
Unhappy consumers=unhealthy behaviors
One of the most concerning findings of the survey is that millennials are visiting health care providers less frequently than other generations. Along with saying they can’t afford some health care expenses, millennials reported visiting their provider’s office less often—32 percent with no visits, versus 31 percent of Gen Z, 27 percent of Gen X, and 19 percent of Boomers.
Avoiding provider visits might be pushing millennials to gather health information online, which has both good and bad outcomes. The study notes that millennials are very comfortable with digital resources, but this puts them at risk of getting unreliable information from dubious sources. The recent measles outbreaks stemming from a lack of vaccinations may be an example of Americans getting “fake” medical news.
“Millennials use online resources more often than seeking expertise from physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals,” said Hector De La Torre, executive director of TCHS. “An overdependence on the Internet can be harmful—both in misinformation and misinterpreted information. Every patient is different, so millennials should not rely solely on generic outside information.”