79 million US adults have medical bill problems or are paying off me...(ies are burdened the most. The report fi...),Health

Date:8/19/2008

ies are burdened the most. The report finds that more than half of working-age adults earning less than $40,000 a year reported problems paying medical bills or being in debt due to medical expenses. Medical bill problems included not being able to pay bills, being contacted by a collection agency about an unpaid bill, and changing one's way of life in order to pay medical bills.

Those with medical bills and medical debt are increasingly facing serious financial problems and sometimes facing trade-offs among immediate life necessities. Thirty-nine percent of those with bill problems or debt say they have used up all of their savings to pay their health care bills; 29 percent are unable to pay for basic necessities like food, heat, or rent; and 30 percent took on credit card debt. Twenty-four percent of adults under age 65 with medical debt owe $4,000 or more and 12 percent owe $8,000 or more in unpaid medical expenses.

In a new Commonwealth Fund issue brief which accompanies the report, Seeing Red: The Growing Problem of Medical Debt and Bills, the authors explain that uninsured and underinsured adults are more at risk of having medical bill problems and medical debt than those with adequate insurance coverage. Three in five adults who are uninsured or underinsured face these challenges, more than double the rate of those who had adequate insurance all year (26 percent). Notably, adults 65 years and older were far less likely to report medical bill problems or debt than younger adults because they are covered by Medicare and may also have supplemental private coverage, and in the case of low-income individuals, may have Medicaid. Just 19 percent of adults over 65half the rate for adults under 65 (41%)reported any medical bill problems or debt.

"The current economic slowdown makes it even more urgent for a new Administration to make universal and affordable health insurance a high priority in 2009, to ensure that no American suffers financ
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Contact: Mary Mahon mm@cmwf.org 212-606-3853 Commonwealth Fund Source:Eurekalert

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