ACS: More than Half of Americans Report Medical Financial Hardship

A new study by researchers from the American Cancer Society (ACS) finds that approximately 137 million adults in America (56 percent) reported having medical financial hardship in the past year. Highlights of the report include:

• Adults aged 18 to 64 reported higher material (i.e. trouble paying medical bills), psychological (i.e. concern about medical bills), and behavioral (delaying or forgoing care because of cost) medical financial hardship than those aged 65 and older.
• Among adults aged 18 to 64, those with less education and more health conditions reported greater intensity of hardship.
• Women were more likely to report multiple domains of hardship than men.
• Uninsured adults were more likely to report multiple domains of hardship than those with public or private insurance.

2017 ACCC Annual Achievement Award winner Barbara McAneny, MD, president of the American Medical Association, says of the study in the Los Angeles Times, "People are trying hard to do the right thing, but care is being prices out of their reach."

Read the ACS press press release.
Read the Los Angeles Times article.
Read "Prevalence and Correlates of Medical Financial Hardship in the USA" in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Posted 5/2/2019