Behavioral Health Business July 19, 2024
Nearly one in every 12 Americans owes medical debt, totaling at least $220 billion nationwide.
This debt may be actively worsening the mental health care gap.
Adults with depression or anxiety are more likely to carry medical debt, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Approximately one in four to one in five of these people reported that they could not pay their medical bills.
Researchers found a potential link between increased debt among people with anxiety or depression and delaying or forgoing mental health care.
“Medical debt appears to contribute to the mental health treatment gap, suggesting that aggressive debt collection practices have negative consequences for population mental health,” the study’s authors wrote. “In the absence...
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