Even among those with private coverage, medical debt stemming from both hospital visits and routine care looms large over about a third of U.S. adults, according to a nationally representative Commonwealth Fund survey.
The thinktank reviewed over 4,100 survey responses from adults with continuous employer, Affordable Care Act marketplace, or individual market coverage, as well as focus groups with 45 participants.
That survey, conducted from July to October of last year over the phone or online, found 32% were paying off medical bills or debt, with higher rates among women (37%), those with low or moderate incomes (38%), those living in the South (39%) and people who reported Black ethnicity (41%). More than a third of the full sample said they could not pay an unexpected medical bill of $1,000.
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One-third of privately insured have medical debt, Commonwealth Fund survey finds
