By NextBestFitMedical debt affects about 100 million people
About 4 in 10 adults have health care debt. Debt leads people to skip further care, damages credit, and is a leading contributor to personal financial distress.
Evidence
- About 100 million adults have medical or dental debt; 79% of them skipped or delayed care because of cost.Sources: KFF / KHN / NPR (2022)
Who's affected
Who is hurt
- Low- and middle-income households: Medical debt leads them to skip care and face damaged credit and financial distress.
- People with ongoing or specialist care needs: Medical debt leads them to skip care and face damaged credit and financial distress.
- Uninsured people: Medical debt leads them to skip care and face damaged credit and financial distress.
- People with unaffordable deductibles or coinsurance: Medical debt leads them to skip care and face damaged credit and financial distress.
Who gains while it lasts
- Medical debt collectors and buyers: They collect or buy medical debt.
- Hospitals, clinics, and care organizations: Hospitals sell medical debt or sue to collect it.
Under your mix of paths
Paths that fix or soften it
Using your saved plan. 0 paths picked.Edit all picks
Root causes
- Cost sharing
- Uninsurance
- Surprise and opaque bills
Related costs
Open questions
- Should existing medical debt be bought and forgiven?
- Should patients ever be billed for covered care?
Solution paths (3)
Open a path for what it fixes, what it creates or worsens, who gains and who loses, precedents, and how it connects to other paths. See all paths as a decision tree.
Purchase old medical debt in bulk (it sells for pennies on the dollar) and forgive it.
- +Medical debt affects about 100 million people
- −Solves only part of the problem
Remove medical debt from credit reports, cap interest, ban lawsuits, liens, and wage garnishment over medical bills, and require charity-care screening first.
- +Medical debt affects about 100 million people
- −U.S. prices are far higher than in other countries
With no cost sharing (or income-capped cost sharing), new medical debt mostly stops.
- +Medical debt affects about 100 million people
- +About $1 trillion a year in administrative cost
- −Depends on other changes to work
Also addressed by paths for other problems
No cost sharing at the point of careUnderinsurance: covered, but can't afford to use itChosen
Removing deductibles, copays, and coinsurance ends most medical debt for covered services.