Among people who had medical debt problems, 43% said they saw their credit score drop in the past two years.
Now, as the country sees signs of economic recovery, a new survey spotlights the pandemic’s continuing jabs: mounting medical debts.
All together, 38% of the 5,450 people polled said they experienced some type of medical bill or debt problem in the past year. That could include difficulties paying bills, collection agency calls or a change in lifestyle to pay down their debts. Likewise, survey participants who are Black, one demographic particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, were much more likely to say they had medical debt problems in the past year, with 55% compared to the 38% national average.
Less than one year earlier, around 20 million members had $45 billion in collections as of September 2020, the spokeswoman said. Medical debt collections account for around 44% of all collections, she noted. But the new Commonwealth Fund findings show the extent of the problem and the lasting consequences of medical debts.
Roughly 10% of the Commonwealth Fund survey participants were uninsured and those people faced medical bill problems at greater rates than insured survey participants.
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