Is paying for health care a struggle?

In an especially tough year when money is tight, lots of expenses are falling by the wayside. When health care is among the expenses being postponed or pushed completely out of a family budget, it's frightening. A quarter of Americans surveyed in a Thomas Reuters study this week said they are struggling to pay for health care this year. And 17 percent said they have postponed or delayed medical services or treatments in the past year.

Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) had more trouble than younger Americans surveyed, and were most likely to put off medical care, according to the researchers at  the Center for Health Care Improvement, part of the health care business of Thomson Reuters. Overall, 40 percent of all households planned to postpone care in the coming three months, and 15 percent said they would put off routine doctor visits.

Congress and the Obama Administration are working on expanding health care for more Americans, but it is an expensive undertaking in a tough economic climate, and the fix will be not simple nor soon. In the meantime, are you having more trouble paying for health care, or putting off medical visits?

More health care posts on Shine:

• Why do women pay more for health insurance?
• Can you live without health insurance?
• Health poll: What is your doctor copay?