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After rising for a decade, the number of Americans experiencing financial distress from their medical bills has started to decline, a new survey has found.
The result provides new evidence that the Affordable Care Act, by providing uninsured people with health insurance, is also improving their financial security, a major goal of the law.
The large telephone survey, from the New York-based health research group the Commonwealth Fund, has been asking people about their medical bills every few years for a decade. In each survey through 2012, a higher percentage of Americans said they struggled to pay their medical bills, were paying off medical debt or had been contacted by a collection agency. The most recent installment of the survey, the first since the health law’s major provisions kicked in, shows a reversal in that trend.
The survey also found that fewer people were avoiding doctors’ visits because of concerns about cost.
According to the survey, the percentage of Americans who experienced trouble with a medical bill or medical debt in the last year declined from a high of 41 percent in 2012 to 35 percent in 2014.
The survey also found that about 43 percent of Americans had avoided some sort of medical care in 2012 because of concerns about the cost. That rate fell in 2014 to 36 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/upshot/financial-distress-connected-to-medical-bills-shows-a-decline-the-first-in-years.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&abt=0002&abg=0&_r=1
The result provides new evidence that the Affordable Care Act, by providing uninsured people with health insurance, is also improving their financial security, a major goal of the law.
The large telephone survey, from the New York-based health research group the Commonwealth Fund, has been asking people about their medical bills every few years for a decade. In each survey through 2012, a higher percentage of Americans said they struggled to pay their medical bills, were paying off medical debt or had been contacted by a collection agency. The most recent installment of the survey, the first since the health law’s major provisions kicked in, shows a reversal in that trend.
The survey also found that fewer people were avoiding doctors’ visits because of concerns about cost.
According to the survey, the percentage of Americans who experienced trouble with a medical bill or medical debt in the last year declined from a high of 41 percent in 2012 to 35 percent in 2014.
The survey also found that about 43 percent of Americans had avoided some sort of medical care in 2012 because of concerns about the cost. That rate fell in 2014 to 36 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/upshot/financial-distress-connected-to-medical-bills-shows-a-decline-the-first-in-years.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&abt=0002&abg=0&_r=1
