While I don't doubt the specific examples given by the Trib reporters, evidence on the link between the overall economy and health is not as clear as this article would have you believe.
Also, think about applying the notion of opportunity costs to preventive health care --- are you more likely to go get that colonoscopy when you're super busy at work, or when you're not? More generally, it's useful to think of the "cost" of health care as both the "dollar cost" and the "time cost". People have fewer dollars now for sure, but they might have more time. And it's not clear which "cost" has a larger effect on preventive care.
For the insured (which is most people), the dollar cost might not be so relevant.
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The trade off of time and money relative to health care is an interesting one. Any ideas how one would study such?
I'd go look up this article. Maybe there's a copy in our library? "Macroeconomic Conditions, Health and Mortality”, in Andrew M. Jones (ed.) Elgar Companion to Health Economics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006, pp. 5-16.
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