Get on Top of Costly Medical Bills

If you’re looking for a way to pay for looming health care expenses, or if you’ve already fallen into debt, you have avenues to ease the burden.

- BY EMMA PATCH

MEDICAL debt may seem as though it’s a problem limited largely to people who lack adequate health insurance coverage. But even those who have a health plan may find themselves struggling to pay bills. According to a 2023 study from health care advocacy organization The Commonwealth Fund, 30% of adults with employer coverage were paying off debt from medical or dental care, as were 33% of those with Medicare, 33% of those with an individual or Affordable Care Act marketplace plan, and 21% with Medicaid. Cutbacks to Medicaid funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which became law over the summer, have raised concerns that more people will find themselves enmired in medical debt.

“It’s such a common burden because of the complexity and lack of affordability in our health care system, even if you have insurance,” says Ruth Landé, vice president of provider relations at Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization working to alleviate the burden of medical debt.

If you rack up big bills while you’re still subject to your health plan’s annual deductible, you may be on the hook for thousands of dollars before your insurance coverage starts—especially if you have a high-deductible plan.

And even after insurance kicks in, the out-of-pocket costs for co-payments, coinsurance, or charges for out-of-network care can stack up.

Hospital stays and surgeries or serious illnesses that require inpatient care, such as appendicitis or a heart attack, often have hefty costs for patients. Bills for room charges, surgeons, anesthesia or imaging can quickly accumulate. Emergency room visits are also a driver of medical debt, although thanks to the federal No Surprises Act, patients can’t be billed more than the in-network rate for emergency care, even at an out-of-network hospital or if some of the providers are in network and some are out of network.