A Holiday Season: A.FL.A.C. Holiday Spending and Health Care Survey

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C1 3 ongoing pandemic, forecasters are predicting a strong gift-giving season in 2020.

However, for some families, santa might have to be a little stingy.

According to one survey of consumers across the country, the high cost of healthcare means more bills that are not covered by health insurance and less holiday cheer.

So joining us today to discuss the 2020 aflac health care issues survey is stephanie shields, senior vice president of broker sales at aflac.

Welcome to the show, stephanie.

Stephanie shiel...: thank you for having me, i'm happy to be here.

Speaker 1: well, okay, tell us about the survey, what are some of the main findings in that?

Stephanie shiel...: so our survey results show that medical costs are affecting families' ability to enjoy this holiday season.

It's the second time that we conducted the survey, and over the past two years, over 75% of respondents reported that they're going to be making some difficult financial choices when thinking about holiday spending this season.

Speaker 1: what type of sacrifices or hard decisions are americans making because of healthcare costs?

Stephanie shiel...: during this season of giving, many people are choosing to cut back.

And that comes in a variety of different formats, so maybe fewer gifts under the tree or deciding to stay home and foregoing that trip to visit family and friends.

For example, respondents who had a trip to the hospital in the past year, over half reported spending $1,000 or more in out-of-pocket costs.

That's about the same amount that consumers are planning to spend this year on gift giving, so sacrifices are being made.

Speaker 1: how has the covid-19 pandemic impacted the holiday season?

Stephanie shiel...: covid-19 was the third most- commonly mentioned ailment impacting individuals and their families.

I'm a mother of three, i'm a business woman, i've seen firsthand how the pandemic changed virtual learning, virtual work environments, even how we socially interact.

So in a year of uncertainty, there are some constants.

So whether it's covid-19 or other ailments like cancer, heart attack, or diabetes, these often result in large, unplanned medical expenses that families are just generally unprepared for.

Speaker 1: well, given these sacrifices and high medical costs, are people having regrets about their healthcare decisions?

Stephanie shiel...: yeah, hindsight is always 20/20, and when medical events hit, people reflect on what their coverage and benefit choices are.

And so that's what we're finding, over a third of survey respondents report regret with choosing limited medical plans or high co-pays and deductibles or not understanding out- of-network costs.

And so health insurance coverage doesn't always cover all the medical expenses that consumers incur.

That's where aflac comes in, we cover expenses that health insurance doesn't.

Speaker 1: where there any other survey findings that stood out this year?

Stephanie shiel...: yeah, we're focused on the holidays, it's december, but the tough financial impacts and choices happen all year long.

And so some unintended consequences are higher credit card debt, taking loans or borrowing from friends, or even more importantly, postponing important trips to the doctor for the individual and their families.

Supplemental insurance is important to create a safety net.

Plans like critical illness or hospital insurance pay cash benefits direct to the individual to use any way they'd like, for their medical expenses or even everyday expenses like childcare and groceries.

Speaker 1: absolutely.

Where can we go for more information?

Stephanie shiel...: you can find more information at aflac.com.

Speaker 1: stephanie, thank you so much for the information.

Thank you for being here with us today.

Stephanie shiel...: thank