Americans are losing the battle against oppressive medical bills.
A new report from American Cancer Society researchers reveals that more than half of all Americans struggle with healthcare costs, often delaying care to keep medical bills at bay. The study, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that more than 137 million adults in the US have suffered hardships over health care costs.
Dr. Robin Yabroff and her team used data from the 2015-2017 National Health Interview Survey, and identified three “domains” of medical hardship: issues with affordability, psychological burdens and risky behavior, i.e. avoiding treatment to keep costs low.
Yabroff’s team found that 56% of adults aged 18 to 64 reported at least one kind of medical hardship — that’s about 137.1 million adults in the United States. Compared to those 65 and up, the 18-to-64 demo struggled more with paying down their bills (28.9% vs. 15.3); experienced more stress (46.9% vs. 28.4); and engaged in more high-risk behaviors (21.2% vs. 12.7) to avoid the costs.
Those with lower levels of education and more health concerns experienced increased hardships, as did women in general, the study authors find. More than half of uninsured respondents fell into two or more of the domains, compared to those with coverage through the Healthcare Marketplace (26.5%) or private insurance (23.2%).
Experts say that the high costs of medical care impacts us in all facets of our lives. Families with medical costs often worry whether they’ll be able to manage other household finances. Many patients will choose to put off or opt out of crucial treatment, potentially sending them further into illness and debt should they need continued care.
Of course, sickness can also prevent patients from being able to work, creating an even more dire situation and potentially jeopardizing their work-sponsored health coverage.
Study authors say our national medical debt will continue to compound and negatively impact our quality of life unless we act soon.
“With the increasing prevalence of multiple chronic conditions; higher patient cost-sharing; and higher costs of healthcare; the risk of hardship will likely increase in the future. Thus, development and evaluation of the comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of strategies to minimize medical financial hardship will be important.”