Americans borrowed $74 billion last year to cover their health care costs

Health care is so expensive that 31 million U.S. adults, or 12%, had to borrow a total of $74 billion last year to obtain medical care, new data shows. That includes people with health insurance, making such numbers even more troubling. 

Almost one-third of the more than 3,500 people surveyed by Gallup and West Health, a group of nonprofit health care organizations, said they’re “very concerned” that a major health event would lead to medical debt despite most of them having some form of health care coverage.

The survey results underscore how exposed individuals and families can be to financial hardship just to pay for essential health care services.  

“What’s very visible here is families are forced to take out loans and borrow to cover expensive care that is needed,” Tim Lash, president of West Health, told CBS MoneyWatch. “These big numbers are concerning, but the humanity is lost in the billions and trillions as we reduce this down to what the lived experience is of the American individual and families.”

To avoid taking on debt, families sometimes make tradeoffs, such as purchasing fewer groceries or not paying rent in order to get the care they need, Lash added. 

Nearly one in five adults between the ages of 18 and 28 reported borrowing money to pay for health care, according to the survey. Only 9% of Americans between 50 and 64 and 2% of those 65 or older reported having to borrow money to obtain needed medical care.

“There are a lot of disparities in terms of who borrows,” Lash said. That’s in part because Medicare, which is available to people who are 65 or older, provides enrollees with relatively comprehensive coverage.

As of mid-2024, U.S. residents owed at least $220 billion in medical debt, according to data from the American Hospital Association. Health care bills have for years been a leading cause of personal bankruptcies. 

“We need reforms to find savings that can trickle down to the individual, so that these circumstances — of making what should be unnecessary tradeoffs — aren’t the condition moving forward,” Lash added.