20% of Americans Have Problems Paying Off Medical Debt

One-fifth of American households have problems paying off medical debt; and of those, five percent ultimately file for bankruptcy. In 2003, only 15.1% of households had trouble paying off medical debt. These are findings of “Medical Bill Problems Steady for U.S. Families, 2007-2010” by Anna Sommers and Peter J. Cunningham of the Center for Studying Health System Change. The researchers reviewed data from the HSC 2010 and 2007 Health Tracking Household Surveys and the 2003 Community Tracking Survey. All are nationally representative telephone surveys. Estimates of medical bill problems were based on responses to the question . . .