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As health care costs continue to rise, more than half of working-age Americans said they've struggled to afford care this year, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey. The survey is the latest evidence of how people with insurance are struggling to pay medical bills, forcing them to forgo or delay needed care. (Goldman, 10/26)

Paying for health care is increasingly straining US adults as escalating medical costs converge with rising prices throughout the economy. More than half of working-age Americans said they had difficulty paying for health care in 2023, according to a Commonwealth Fund survey published Thursday. Among people without insurance, more than three-quarters reported trouble affording care. But 43% of people with employer health plans said they had difficulty paying, and the rate was even higher among people on public health plans like Medicare and Medicaid. (LaPara, 10/26)

Among those who owed a medical debt, the survey said nearly half owed $2,000 or more. Nearly two-thirds of adults who owed money for a medical bill paid their health care provider directly, but past-due bills for about one-third of adults were turned over to collection agencies. In 2021, consumers owed about $88 billion in medical debt, making it the largest category of consumer debt. When consumers owe medical debt, it's often turned over to collection agencies and appears on consumer credit reports which can make it difficult for people to buy a house or finance a car. (Alltucker, 10/26)

The Commonwealth Fund Health Care Affordability Survey, fielded for the first time in 2023, asked U.S. adults with health insurance, and those without, about their ability to afford their health care — whether costs prevented them from getting care, whether provider bills left them with medical debt, and how these problems affected their lives. (10/26)

According to the annual Nationwide Retirement Institute Health Care Cost in Retirement survey, roughly 6 in 10 respondents (59%) lack confidence in their ability to pay for health care costs as they age, and 57% worry about their ability to pay for caregiving for their partner/spouse. (Godbout, 10/23)