Since April 2003, we have asked several questions to compare Americans' health care worries to their worries about other possible problems. We have consistently found that more Americans are personally worried about their health care costs than about losing their job, paying their rent or mortgage, losing money in the stock market, or being the victim of a terrorist attack.

Among health care worries, the public is most concerned about having to pay more for their health care or insurance, with almost half (49%) saying they are very worried. Somewhat fewer say they are very worried about not being able to afford health care services (42%), not being able to afford prescription drugs (35%), and declining quality of care (32%). Among those who currently have health insurance coverage, nearly four in ten (38%) report being very worried that their health plan will be more concerned about money than about what is best for them, and more than one-third (35%) say they are very worried about losing their health insurance coverage.

People in different demographic groups report different levels of worry about their own ability to access and pay for health care. For instance, non-whites, those with lower incomes, and those without health insurance coverage are more likely than their counterparts to report worrying about health care issues. In addition, more women than men are worried about their health care, perhaps due in part to the fact that women are often the primary health care decision-makers in the home, and they have more contact with the health care system than do men.