Struggling to Pay Medical Bills

Many Americans Struggling to Pay Medical Bills

By ANN CARRNS

All eyes will be on the United States Supreme Court next week as it hears arguments in the challenge to the Affordable Care Act. But while debate over health care reform swirls in the political arena, roughly a third of Americans are in families struggling in some way to pay medical bills, a recent study finds.

The study on the financial burden of medical care, published by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is based on responses to the National Health Interview Survey for the first six months of 2011. The study is based on personal interviews with more than 52,000 people.

The findings aren’t too surprising, considering that other recent research finds that the proportion of Americans with health insurance fell during the recent recession.

The C.D.C. analysis found that about a quarter of children age 17 and under were in families struggling to pay medical bills. The likelihood of being in a household unable to pay bills decreased with age, the study found. Just 7 percent of adults age 75 and over were members of such families.

The survey asked participants about whether they had problems paying any medical bills over the last 12 months, whether they were paying any medical bills over time and if they had any medical bills they were unable to pay.

Have you had trouble paying medical bills recently? How are you planning to handle the costs?