Thanks for bringing attention to this serious issue.
Medical debt is a serious issue. "According to an article at www.thebalance.com…health care costs are the #1 cause of bankruptcy for America’s families. "
From Forbes “In a 2022 study, the bureau found that roughly 20% of U.S. households report that they have medical debt, with collections appearing on 43 million credit reports. As of the second quarter of 2021, 58% of all bills in collections on credit records were medical bills.”
Health system Tracker has good data on this issue.
"Despite over 90% of the United States population having some form of health insurance, medical debt remains a persistent problem. For people and families with limited assets, even a relatively small unexpected medical expense can be unaffordable. For people with significant medical needs, medical debt may build up over time. People living with cancer, for example, have higher levels of debt than individuals who have never had cancer.
High deductibles and other forms of cost sharing can contribute to individuals receiving medical bills that they are unable to pay, despite being insured. KFF polling shows that people with medical debt report cutting spending on food, clothing, and other household items, spending down their savings to pay for medical bills, borrowing money from friends or family members, or taking on additional debts. (The KFF polling found that 41% of adults have health care debt according to a broader definition, which includes health care debt on credit cards or owed to family members.)
This brief analyzes data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to understand how many people have medical debt and how much they owe. A recent Census Bureau analysis on medical debt at the household level found 15% of households owed medical debt in 2021. In this analysis, SIPP data is summarized at the individual level for adults who reported owing over $250 in unpaid medical bills as of December 2021. This analysis focuses on people with over $250 in medical debt, a threshold defined as “significant” medical debt to distinguish from people who owe relatively small amounts.
This analysis shows that 20 million people (nearly 1 in 12 adults) owe medical debt. The SIPP survey suggests people in the United States owe at least $220 billion in medical debt. Approximately 14 million people (6% of adults) in the U.S. owe over $1,000 in medical debt and about 3 million people (1% of adults) owe medical debt of more than $10,000. While medical debt occurs across demographic groups, people with disabilities or in worse health, lower-income people, and uninsured people are more likely to have medical debt.
People in worse health and those living with a disability are more likely to report medical debt."