About 31 million Americans borrowed money to pay for health care last year, accumulating $74 billion in medical debt, according to a survey published Wednesday.
The West Health-Gallup Healthcare survey found 12% of the nation’s residents borrowed to pay for health care over the past year, and 58% were concerned they would rack up medical debt if they had a major health issue. The survey of 3,583 U.S. adults in 50 states and Washington D.C. was conducted over one week in November 2024.
Young adults, Black and Hispanic adults and women were more likely to borrow for health expenses, the survey said.
The rising number of Americans taking on medical debt comes as House Republicans have proposed $880 billion in savings and cuts from a congressional committee that oversees Medicaid, the federal health program for low-income and disabled people. And the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau − an agency that extended protections to consumers with medical debt − is uncertain after President Donald Trump fired Director Rohit Chopra and appointed a new director, Russell Vought, who paused the agency’s work.
While Democrats have warned about potential cuts to Medicaid, Republican leaders have said enough savings can be achieved by targeting fraud and waste and requiring healthy Medicaid recipients to work to maintain taxpayer-funded coverage.
As Congress and the Trump administration consider health-related saving as part of an effort to pare federal spending, consumers are worried about how such changes could impact medical debt, according to Tim Lash, president of West Health.
“The cost of health care continues to be a major burden on our families and and our economy,” Lash said. “We’ve got to be able to find $74 billion in savings so families don’t have to borrow money to get access to the care that they need.”
Young adults more likely to borrow for health care
West Health, which operates three nonprofits, has teamed with Gallup since 2018 to fund surveys on topics of health quality, affordability, equity and access.
The survey released Wednesday found 18% of those aged 18 to 29 said they borrowed money to pay for health care in the past year. By comparison, just 9% of adults aged 50 to 64 and 2% of those 65 and older said they borrowed to pay for medical bills.
Even though a smaller share of older adults struggled with health expenses, those who did grappled with pricier medical bills than younger adults.
Among those 50 and older who borrowed for medical care, half needed $3,000 or more to pay health expenses. Young adults aged 18 to 29 tended to have less expensive care, borrowing a median $300 to cover health bills, the survey said.
The survey did not ask participants how they borrowed for health care. But past surveys suggest people often use credit cards, bank loans or borrow from family or friends, survey officials said.
“People are being forced to make trade-offs between vacations, and in some cases, rent,” Lash said. People are “going into debt to access medical care.”
Worries about medical debt persist across age, gender and race
The survey said adults 65 and older − the group eligible for Medicare, the federal health program for adults of that age − were not shielded from medical debt. Slightly more than half of adults 65 to 74 were somewhat or very concerned that a health issue could lead to medical debt.
In fact, angst over medical debt cuts across age, gender, racial and income groups. More than 6 in 10 Black and Hispanic adults were somewhat or very concerned about medical debt, a slightly higher rate than white adults. About 62% of women were concerned about medical debt, compared to 54% of men.
Working-class households also were more likely to worry about…
