Becker's Healthcare May 12, 2022
Despite little change before the pandemic, the number of adults with medical debt, issues paying medical bills and medical debt in collections have declined since the pandemic began. New policies will be needed to sustain the decrease, according to a May 11 report from the Urban Institute.
Data from 2018 to 2021 was sourced from the Urban Institute’s Health Reform Monitoring Survey, a nationally representative survey of adults ages 18-64, and the Urban Institute credit bureau data, a nationally representative panel of unidentified consumer records from a major credit bureau.
The report examined trends for multiple outcomes that reflect different ways in which people struggle to pay medical bills:
- Medical debt: The share of nonelderly adults in the...