Health care is so expensive that 31 million American adults, or 12%, had to borrow a total of $ 74 billion last year to obtain medical care, according to new data. This includes people with health insurance, making these figures even more disturbing.
Almost a third of the more than 3,500 people questioned By Gallup and West Health, a group of non -profit health care organizations, said they “are very concerned” that a major health event would lead to medical debt despite most of them with a certain form of health care coverage.
The results of the survey point out how individuals and exposed families can be financial difficulties just to pay the essential health services.
“What is very visible here are the families are forced to contract loans and borrow to cover the expensive care that is necessary,” Tim Lash, president of West Health told CBS Moneywatch. “These major numbers are worrying, but humanity is lost in billions and billions of billions while we reduce this to the lived experience of the American and American families.”
To avoid taking debts, families sometimes compromise, such as buying less grocery store or not paying rent in order to obtain the care they need, added Lash.
According to the survey, almost one out of five in five aged 18 to 28 said he borrowed money to pay health care. Only 9% of Americans between 50 and 64 and 2% of these 65 years or over said they had to borrow money to obtain the necessary medical care.
“There are a lot of disparities in terms of who borrows,” said Lash. This is partly because Medicare, which is available for people 65 or over, offers registrants relatively complete coverage.
In mid-2024, American residents owed at least $ 220 billion in medical debt, according to data of the American Hospital Association. Health care bills have been a main cause of personal bankruptcy for years.
“We need reforms to find savings that can flow to the individual, so that these circumstances – to do what should be unnecessary compromises – are not the condition in the future,” added Lash.