Americans Have Had to Borrow $88 Billion to Cover Health Care Costs in the Past Year

A new survey from Gallup has some eye-popping findings.

Elnur/Shutterstock

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

If you needed proof that Americans are going into debt to pay for medical treatment due to the United States’ deeply flawed healthcare system, look no further. Americans borrowed more than $88 billion in the past year to cover healthcare costs, with nearly 3 million individuals borrowing $10,000 or more, according to a new study conducted by Gallup and West Health.

The study, which surveyed more than 3,500 randomly selected adults, paints a stark picture of Americans’ concerns about healthcare costs. Almost half of those surveyed said they feared a major health event would leave them bankrupt, while 77% expressed concerns that rising healthcare costs would damage the U.S. economy. People who can’t afford to pay for healthcare either borrow money or forgo treatment altogether: the study estimates that 65 million adults who had a health issue last year did not seek treatment due to costs.

Americans spend more on health care than other citizens of other countries. Lots more. And despite the reforms of the Affordable Care Act, medical costs are still a factor in more than 66% of bankruptcies, according to a study published earlier this year in the American Journal of Public Health. One of the results of this is dysfunctional system is that more and more people are forced to turn to crowdfunding campaigns to pay for medical bills, like the dystopian popularity contests Stephen Marche wrote about last year. “America is becoming a country so free that everyone must beg to survive, and most will not beg well enough.”

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate