A third of U.S. adults will dump physician to save money

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SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 25 (UPI) -- Thirty-four percent of U.S. adults say they are willing to dump their current physician if it would lower their health plan premium costs, a survey indicates.

A survey conducted for HealthPocket -- a website that compares and ranks health plans -- found more than half of the 34 percent who would switch would do so to get the lowest savings amount proposed in the survey, $500 to $1,000 annually, while 8 percent said they would switch for $1,000 to $2,000 and 7.5 percent for $3,000 or more.

More than 40 percent of respondents said they would not change their doctor, and nearly 24 percent of the respondents reported that they do not have a regular doctor.

Other than cost, one of the key factors in consumers' selection process for individual or small business health insurance would be whether their doctor participates in a plan's network of providers.

"Our poll found that while some consumers feel strongly about keeping their current physician, many others are surprisingly open to moving around based on cost," Steve Zaleznick, executive director for consumer strategy and development at HealthPocket, said in a statement. "Regardless of what happens with the Affordable Care Act in terms of healthcare premiums, consumers will need to investigate their options to find ways to save money and determine whether their current doctor will still be covered under the plan they want."

The InfoPoll survey of 713 U.S. adults was conducted April 18-21. No margin of error was provided.