Healthcare has been at the top of mind for Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, but how seriously have millennials been about their personal health throughout the last year? As a health data management firm interested in the health habits of millennials, we recently surveyed millennials on the topic of healthcare, primary care physicians and annual physical examinations during the pandemic. COVID-19 and Millennial Health According to self-reporting respondents, 79% of millennials say they have a primary care physician. A similar survey conducted by Harmony Healthcare IT in 2019 revealed that 76% of millennials had a primary care physician. A majority of millennials (65%) also say they made sure to receive a check-up or annual physical during the pandemic and 28% say they became established with their primary care physician during the pandemic. Compared to our survey in 2019, the percent of millennials who received a physical within the last year remained unchanged at 65%. Millennials Ignoring Health Issues Many millennials are still putting off going to the doctor and ignoring health issues altogether. According to respondents, 43% have been putting off addressing a health issue and 34% have not received a check-up since the pandemic. These numbers have remained relatively unchanged since our 2019 survey, which showed that 45% of millennials had been ignoring a health issue and one-third had not received a check-up within the last year. The most common reasons why millennials are putting off check-ups include safety concerns due to the pandemic (50%); they feel healthy (41%); and visits to the doctor are too expensive (34%) or too inconvenient (25%). Millennials Turn to Google for Medical Advice Considering they are the generation who grew up with technology at their fingertips, it might not be a surprise that millennials turn to Google for medical advice. Overall, 69% of respondents say they search Google for health or medical advice instead of going to the doctor and 24% trust Google to accurately diagnose their symptoms. Along with online health publications and news articles, more than a quarter of millennials (26%) say they find their medical advice on YouTube and 18% turn to the popular social platform Reddit. Not only are millennials searching online for medical answers, but a majority (83%) are also conducting their own research – even after hearing a doctor’s advice. Millennial Medical Debt COVID-19 has brought on financial hardship for many Americans and millennials have also been financially stressed, especially when it comes to medical debt. Nearly a quarter (24%) of millennial respondents say they’ve taken on medical debt since the pandemic. Overall, 28% say they have $1,000 or more in medical debt. How Many Millennials Will Get COVID-19 Vaccine? Attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine have changed since late last year, but 25% of millennials say they will not get vaccinated for COVID-19 while 55% say they will get vaccinated. Millennial men were slightly more likely to say they will get a COVID-19 vaccination (60%) compared to 51% of millennial women. As the world enters a new phase and new year of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it will be interesting to see how millennials’ relationship with their health and primary care physician continues to evolve and adapt to a changing health care landscape. Methodology From Feb. 8 to Feb. 23, 2021, we surveyed 2,040 millennials between the age of 23 and 39 on the topic of healthcare and primary care physicians. Of those respondents, 48% were female and 52% were male and the median age was 31. Income: Under $20K: 19%; $20-40K: 25%; $40-60K: 25%; $60-80K: 15%; $80-100K: 8%; Over $100K: 8%. Employment status: Employed for wages: 67%; self-employed: 12%; unemployed due to COVID-19: 6%; unemployed not due to COVID-19: 3%; homemaker: 6%; student: 4%; other: 2%. For media inquiries, contact media@digitalthirdcoast.net.