MONDAY, March 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Thirty-one million people, or 12 percent of the U.S. adult population, borrowed $74 million last year to help pay medical costs for themselves or a family member, according to the results of a survey conducted by West Health and Gallup.
The online West Health-Gallup Healthcare Survey included 3,583 U.S. adults and was conducted from Nov. 11 to 18, 2024.
The survey revealed that 18 percent of young adults aged 18 to 29 years needed to borrow money to pay health care costs. Adults aged 30 to 49 years reported similar rates. However, only 9 and 2 percent of Americans aged 50 to 64 and 65 years and older, respectively, said they needed to borrow money to help with medical costs.
Twenty percent of women younger than 50 years reported borrowing money to pay for health care compared with 14 percent of men younger than 50 years. Similarly, women aged 50 to 64 years were twice as likely as men in the same age bracket to report borrowing money. Although men were less likely than women to borrow money to pay for health care, they tended to borrow more (51 versus 36 percent borrowing $1,000 or more).
Black and Hispanic adults were each more likely to report having borrowed money than their White counterparts (23 and 16 percent, respectively, versus 9 percent). When broken down by age, the disparities were particularly noticeable among adults younger than 50 years (29 percent versus 19 and 14 percent for Black adults versus Hispanic and White adults, respectively).
Fifty-eight percent of Americans said they are concerned that a major health event could lead to personal medical debt, including 28 percent who reported being “very concerned.”
“The findings suggest that stronger public policy is needed to address the impacts of high-priced health care; without such changes, millions more may accumulate debt or be forced to make painful tradeoffs about seeking health care,” according to a news release from Gallup.
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