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Dwindling Insurance Pushing People To Financial Brink

People who had medical expenses as part of their credit-card balances had much higher credit-card debt than those who did not. In fact, 29 percent of households reported that medical expenses contributed to their credit-card balances. Within that group, 69 percent reported a major medical expense in the past three years.

"Medical costs were key factors in higher credit-card balances among households," said Tamara Draut, director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos.

Among the report's other findings:

• Households with medical debt had higher levels of credit-card debt than households without medical debt -- on average, 46 percent higher or $11,623, compared to $7,964.
• The distribution of debt was higher among medically indebted households: 44 percent had credit-card debt in excess of $10,000, while only 26 percent of non-medically indebted households had credit-card debt above $10,000.
• Among those with medical debts, young adults aged 18 to 34 had the highest level of average credit-card debt of any age group -- $13,303 compared to $7,450 for non-medically indebted young adults.
• Households that were medically indebted were more likely to be called by bill collectors than non-medically indebted households, 62 percent vs. 38 percent.
• Credit-card debt was high for both insured and uninsured medically indebted households -- $10,973 and $14,512, respectively. "This indicates that even those who do have health insurance aren't always protected," said Cindy Zeldin, a report co-author and federal affairs coordinator with Demos' Economic Opportunity Program.
  

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