Number of families struggling to pay medical bills fell during pandemic, CDC says
Abigail Adcox
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The number of families that struggled to pay medical bills in 2021 went down compared to pre-pandemic as federal legislation provided direct monetary payments, extended flexibility with payments to creditors, and increased the share of people covered by insurance.
In 2021, 10.5 million fewer people were in families having problems paying medical bills than in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. However, the total number of people having trouble paying bills totaled 35 million.
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Researchers said that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the multitrillion-dollar relief plan signed by former President Donald Trump in March 2020; the American Rescue Plan Act, the multitrillion-dollar relief bill signed by President Joe Biden in March 2021; and other pandemic-era legislation may have had an indirect effect on paying off medical bills.
“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on problems paying medical bills cannot be discounted,” the report said. “This legislation provided direct monetary payments, flexibility with payments to creditors, additional unemployment assistance, subsidized payroll for affected small businesses, and improvements in paid sick leave.”
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The decrease in the number of doctor visits and outpatient care at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic may also have contributed to fewer deductibles, copays, and other medical expenses, researchers noted.
Meanwhile, more than a third of people reported that either they or a family member postponed medical treatment because of how much it would cost in 2022, marking the highest percentage recorded in 22 years, according to a separate poll from Gallup.