SAN FRANCISCO–Approximately 100 million American adults, or 41% of the U.S. population, is carrying medical related debt, according to a new report.
The debt ranges from under $500 (16%) to $10,000 or more (12%), according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Using $2,500 as a base level, 56% who carry medical and/or dental debt owe below that amount and 44% owe that much or more, the Foundation stated.
“However, some of that medical debt may not have shown up in past estimates or surveys,” the Foundation analysis states. “For example, some is on credit cards (17% of adults are paying that way) or is being paid off over time directly to a doctor, hospital or other health-care provider (21%).”
The Kaiser Foundation said the report was based on a nationally representative survey of 2,375 adults taken between Feb. 25 to March 20 and included 1,292 adults with current health-care debt. (The results were weighted to reflect the U.S. population.) The study was conducted as part of a larger research project with Kaiser Health News and NPR.
Additional Findings
According to the Kaiser Foundation, additional findings in the survey include:
· 63% with current or recent debt (within the past five years) said it caused them to cut spending on food, clothing and other basics — including 51% of those with annual household income above $90,000.
· Nearly half (48%) with such debt said they used up all or most of their savings to pay it off.
Collectively, medical debt in the U.S. stood at $195 billion or more in 2019, according to Kaiser research.
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