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1 in 5 Americans in Families with Problems Paying Medical Bills in 2010Two-Thirds of People with Medical Bill Problems Report Difficulties Paying for Other Necessities, While One-Quarter Consider Filing for BankruptcyNews Release FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
While problems paying medical bills stabilized in recent years, the proportion of Americans in families with medical bill problems remained significantly higher in 2010 compared with 2003—20.9 percent vs. 15.1 percent, according to findings from HSC’s 2010 Health Tracking Household Survey, a nationally representative survey with information on 17,000 people. Funded by RWJF, the survey for the first time included a cell phone sample to account for the growing number of households without a landline phone. Response rates were 45 percent for the landline sample and 29 percent for the cell phone sample. Many people in families with problems paying medical bills in 2010 experienced severe financial consequences from their medical debt, with about two-thirds reporting problems paying for other necessities and a quarter considering bankruptcy, the study found. “Given the recession, the sluggish recovery and health care costs continuing to increase faster than incomes, it’s a bit surprising that the rate of medical bill problems didn’t increase,” said HSC Senior Researcher Anna Sommers, Ph.D., coauthor of the study with Peter J. Cunningham, Ph.D., HSC director of quantitative research. “The steady rate of medical bill problems may be a byproduct of decreased use of medical care—both by people who lost jobs and health insurance during the recession and others who cut back on medical care in the face of uncertain economic times,” Sommers said. The study’s findings are detailed in a new HSC Tracking Report—Medical Bill Problems Steady for U.S. Families, 2007-2010—available here. Other key findings include:
Provisions in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are likely to reduce—but not eliminate—financial pressures related to paying medical bills for families with incomes below 400 percent of poverty, the study points out. In 2014, almost all people with incomes less than 138 percent of poverty will be eligible for Medicaid. Likewise, federal subsidies to purchase private coverage through state health insurance exchanges will be available in 2014 for people with incomes between 138 percent and 399 percent of poverty without access to employer coverage. The study also notes that underlying growth in health care spending will be an important factor in whether more Americans face problems paying medicals bills, concluding, “If wages continue to stagnate and health care costs continue to grow faster than real income, the financial burden of health care likely will grow more acute.”
The Center for Studying Health System Change is a nonpartisan policy research organization committed to providing objective and timely research on the nations changing health system to help inform policy makers and contribute to better health care policy. HSC, based in Washington, D.C., is affiliated with Mathematica Policy Research. |
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