Americans owe at least $195 billion in medical debt

Statistic Info

Despite over 90% of the United States population having some form of health insurance, medical debt remains a persistent problem. For people and families with limited assets, even a relatively small unexpected medical expense can be unaffordable. For people with significant medical needs, medical debt may build up over time. People living with cancer, for example, have higher levels of debt than individuals who have never had cancer.

Author: Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker

More Related Stats

Physician Practices

Nearly 1/3 of beneficiaries age 65+ said they turn to an insurance broker or agent

88% of physicians describe the prior authorization burden as high or extremely high

Approximately 80% of physicians also said prior authorizations at least sometimes result in treatment abandonment

With prescription drug prices rising at an average rate of 31.6%, physicians can expect patients to search for solutions to their expensive prescription bills

Managing provider preferences is the top scheduling challenge, according to 31% of executives surveyed

44% of healthcare businesses plan to implement customer experience strategies in 2023

57% of physicians say social media changed their views on medications

Prior authorizations are a paperwork burden that takes up physicians’ & staff’s time while delaying care for patients, according to 93% of doctors surveyed by AMA

52% of U.S. patients said healthcare providers dismiss their described symptoms

Nearly 75% of patients turn to online reviews as the first step when searching for a new physician

More 2022 Stats

Telehealth utilization rose 5.5% in December, up slightly from November, according to Fair Health’s national monthly tracker

52% of U.S. patients said healthcare providers dismiss their described symptoms

Researchers found that 8.3 million Medicare beneficiaries participated in a telehealth visit, & of these, 5% had one or more out-of-state telehealth visits

Telehealth, physician payment, training more doctors & pandemic preparedness are among the health care provisions in the federal government’s $1.7 trillion budget for 2023

The federal budget will extend incentive payments for alternative payment models for an additional year, through 2025. However, the incentive payments will be at 3.5% instead of 5%

Although specialty medications total roughly 2% of prescribed drugs, they account for more than 52% of all pharmacy spending

Nearly 40% of Americans are confused by medical bills

Federally-facilitated Exchange Improper Payment Rate Less Than 1% in Initial Data Release

Medicare physician pay has declined 22% from 2001 to 2021

76% of healthcare leaders indicate they think inflation will have a significant impact on their strategy