Survey: One in four working-age adults report problems paying medical bills

About one in four adults under age 65 say they or someone in their household had problems paying medical bills in the past year, according to a survey released yesterday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. More than half of individuals who identified as uninsured said they had problems paying medical bills in the last year. About 20% of insured individuals struggled as well. “While insurance provides financial protection, that protection can be incomplete for a number of reasons, including rising deductibles and other forms of cost-sharing, out-of-network charges, the growing complexity of insurance that can leave consumers with unexpected bills, and the fact that many people have only modest financial assets to cover medical expenses,” the authors note.