Americans owe at least $195 billion of medical debt, despite 90% of the population having some kind of health coverage, according to new research from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation. People are spending down their savings and skimping on food, clothing, and household items to pay their medical bills. About 16 million people, or 6% of U.S. adults, owe more than $1,000 in medical bills, and 3 million people owe more than $10,000. The financial burden falls disproportionately on people with disabilities, those in generally poor health, Black Americans, and people living in the South or in non-Medicaid expansion states, per the research.
