This results from several factors: Having to take time off work for medical treatments (the United States does not offer paid sick leave in all states), having to change work schedules/reduce hours, and the costs of treatments themselves.
This is directly from the Kaiser study which found that medical debt impacts 100 million Americans. Overall, an estimated 41% of people — or about 100 million adults — currently face such debt, ranging from under $500 (16%) to $10,000 or more (12%), according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Using $2,500 as a base level, 56% who carry medical and/or dental debt owe below that amount and 44% owe that much or more.
However, some of that medical debt may not have shown up in past estimates or surveys. For example, some is on credit cards (17% of adults are paying that way) or is being paid off over time directly to a doctor, hospital or other health-care provider (21%).
For instance, 63% with current or recent debt (within the past five years) said it caused them to cut spending on food, clothing and other basics — including 51% of those with annual household income above $90,000. Nearly half (48%) with such debt said they used up all or most of their savings to pay it off.
First of all, this is weaker than your original claim, which is that medical debt (not medical issues more broadly) was the leading cause, and secondly CNBC is mis-citing the underlying study, which only asks about whether something is a contributor, not if it is a “key” contributor:
The majority (58.5%) “very much” or “somewhat” agreed that medical expenses contributed, and 44.3% cited illness-related work loss; 66.5% cited at least one of these two medical contributors—equivalent to about 530 000 medical bankruptcies annually.
I also wonder if there is some social desirability bias in the responses here, where medical debt is less shameful to admit to than things like imprudence, gambling or drug addiction.
“Medical issues” is much broader than “medical debt” though.
In general, I’d say this is helpful in showing that medical debt is a problem, but not that this organization’s programs are effective. Debt on a credit card, that is being paid on, or on which the creditor intends legal action isn’t the kind of stale debt that is going to be sold for a penny on the dollar. The harms described above have already happened before RIP MD gets involved.
“Two-thirds of people who file for bankruptcy cite medical issues as a key contributor to their financial downfall.” https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/11/this-is-the-real-reason-most-americans-file-for-bankruptcy.html
This results from several factors: Having to take time off work for medical treatments (the United States does not offer paid sick leave in all states), having to change work schedules/reduce hours, and the costs of treatments themselves.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/22/100-million-adults-have-health-care-debt-and-some-owe-10000-or-more.html
This is directly from the Kaiser study which found that medical debt impacts 100 million Americans. Overall, an estimated 41% of people — or about 100 million adults — currently face such debt, ranging from under $500 (16%) to $10,000 or more (12%), according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Using $2,500 as a base level, 56% who carry medical and/or dental debt owe below that amount and 44% owe that much or more.
However, some of that medical debt may not have shown up in past estimates or surveys. For example, some is on credit cards (17% of adults are paying that way) or is being paid off over time directly to a doctor, hospital or other health-care provider (21%).
For instance, 63% with current or recent debt (within the past five years) said it caused them to cut spending on food, clothing and other basics — including 51% of those with annual household income above $90,000. Nearly half (48%) with such debt said they used up all or most of their savings to pay it off.
First of all, this is weaker than your original claim, which is that medical debt (not medical issues more broadly) was the leading cause, and secondly CNBC is mis-citing the underlying study, which only asks about whether something is a contributor, not if it is a “key” contributor:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6366487/
I also wonder if there is some social desirability bias in the responses here, where medical debt is less shameful to admit to than things like imprudence, gambling or drug addiction.
“Medical issues” is much broader than “medical debt” though.
In general, I’d say this is helpful in showing that medical debt is a problem, but not that this organization’s programs are effective. Debt on a credit card, that is being paid on, or on which the creditor intends legal action isn’t the kind of stale debt that is going to be sold for a penny on the dollar. The harms described above have already happened before RIP MD gets involved.