How many Americans struggle with medical debt?
Asked by: Enrico Jacobson | Last update: August 8, 2025Score: 4.2/5 (67 votes)
How many people struggle to pay for healthcare in the US?
Percentage of U.S. Adults Categorized as Cost Secure Dips to New Low. The percentage who are considered cost desperate remains steady at 8%. Table that depicts the percentage of U.S. adults who are cost secure (55%), cost insecure (37%) and cost desperate (8%). Trends are shown dating back to 2021.
What is the average bad debt percentage in healthcare?
The industry standard benchmark for Bad Debt Percentage is typically around 2-3% of net patient revenue.
How many doctors in the US are in debt?
73% of medical school graduates have educational debt. 31% of indebted medical school graduates have premedical educational debt. The average medical school graduate owes 2.25 times as much as the average postgraduate college student, including their undergraduate debt.
What country has the highest medical debt?
The United States: the world's highest medical expenses
The United States has the most expensive healthcare system of any country. A medical consultation with a general practitioner costs, on average, $190 or around €170. A stay in hospital can result in bills amounting to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The effect of removing medical debt from millions of Americans’ credit scores
How does the US rank in healthcare?
U.S. ranks last in health care compared with nine other high-income countries, report finds. People in the U.S. die the youngest and experience the most avoidable deaths, despite spending much more on health care. By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. The health system in the U.S. is failing, a startling new report finds.
How bad is medical debt in the US?
According to the CFPB, 100 million Americans owe $220 billion in medical debt.
What percent of doctors live paycheck to paycheck?
66% of healthcare workers live paycheck-to-paycheck, survey finds.
What happens if you don't pay medical bills in America?
Medical debt can also lead people to avoid medical care, develop physical and mental health problems, and face adverse financial consequences like lawsuits, wage and bank account garnishment, home liens, and bankruptcy.
Do most doctors pay off their debt?
Nearly three-quarters (74%) were medical school debt-free in five years or less, while 47% had paid off their loans in two years or less.
Do hospitals write off unpaid medical bills?
There is no one, clear cut answer to the question of whether hospitals write off unpaid medical bills. Some hospitals do this a lot, some do not do it at all, and there is a wide range of hospitals in between. Many factors go into how and if, a hospital writes off an individual's bill.
What is the leading cause of debt in the United States?
Mortgage debt is most Americans' largest debt, exceeding other types by a wide margin. Student loans are the next largest type of debt among those listed in the data, followed closely by auto loans.
Does medical debt lead to poverty?
Medical debt itself is a social determinant of health (SDOH), rather than a symptom—research shows that unaffordable medical bills can lead to a “downward spiral of ill-health and financial precarity,” often trapping people in a complicated cycle of poverty.
What happens in America if you can't afford healthcare?
Americans are no longer taxed for not carrying health insurance. Medical debt contributes to a large number of bankruptcies in America. Access to quality primary care is critical, but doctors have the right to refuse patients without insurance or who are able to pay out-of-pocket expenses.
Is it better to have health insurance or pay out-of-pocket?
People without insurance pay, on average, twice as much for care. This means when you use a network provider you pay less for the same services than someone who doesn't have coverage – even before you meet your deductible.
What country has the best healthcare?
According to the 2024 Mirror, Mirror report, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have the best healthcare systems, though the differences in overall performance among most countries are relatively small.
Is it illegal to not pay medical debt?
Federal law considers initiating legal action to collect on unpaid medical bills to be an extraordinary collections action and also limits how much of a debtor's paycheck can be garnished to pay a debt. In most states, hospitals and debt buyers can sue patients to collect on unpaid medical bills.
What percentage of hospital bills go unpaid?
According to industry data, more than half of hospital bills are never paid in full. This shortfall is largely driven by the rise of high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), which may be more affordable, but shift more financial responsibility onto patients.
What happens to unpaid medical bills when someone dies?
In some states, you are always responsible for your spouse's debt after death, but only if the debt was accumulated while you were married. These are called “community property states”; they include Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin (as of 2022).
How rich is the average doctor?
Many doctors do become millionaires, but it's not guaranteed. About 51% of doctors reach a net worth of $1 million or more, but this changes a lot based on their age and area of work. Younger doctors, especially those just starting out, usually have lower net worths.
What is the most underpaid healthcare profession?
According to this 2021 survey, nurses and health care aides were considered to be underpaid in the United States. During that year, 59 percent of respondents believed nurses were underpaid in the U.S. and 60 percent of respondents stated that health care aides were underpaid.
How many rich people live paycheck to paycheck?
Among those with salaries and other income totaling $75,000 to $100,000, 23% are just scraping by, up from 19% in 2019. For those earning $101,000 to $150,000, 22% are spending nearly all their money on basics, up from 18%.
What race has the most medical debt?
African Americans incur substantial medical debt compared with Whites, and more than 40% of this is mediated by health status, income, and insurance disparities.
Can a hospital take your house for unpaid medical bills?
The short answer is yes, it is possible to lose your home over unpaid medical bills though the doctor or hospital would have to be willing to go to a lot of effort to make that happen. Medical debt is classified as unsecured debt. This means that your debt isn't tied to any collateral.
Is medical debt being forgiven?
Thanks to the American Rescue Plan (ARP), states, counties, and cities are canceling an estimated $7 billion in medical debt for up to nearly 3 million Americans, including: Arizona is using ARP funds to relieve an estimated up to $2 billion in medical debt for up to 1 million Arizonans.