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Medical insurance debt is one of the most common forms of debt that has impacted many Americans. Many are either dealing with some debt from their medical bills or high amounts. In addition to it being a financial problem for many, there is significant research that shows the impact of medical insurance debt on emotional health. Let’s further examine these connections between medical insurance debt and your mental health.
What is the Average Medical Debt per Person?
There are many Americans today with insurmountable amounts of medical bills due to serious health conditions. A recent Census Bureau analysis of medical debt showed that in 2021, 15% of households owed medical debt. It also shows that 20 million people, which is nearly 1 in 12 adults, owe medical debt. 14 million Americans, (6% of adults) owe over $1,000 in medical debt and about 3 million (1% of adults) owe over $10,000 in medical debt. Finding out the average amount of medical debt is said to be difficult. This is because so many people owe small amounts and only a few people owe larger amounts.
How Does Medical Debt Affect Mental Health?
Medical debt has not only been a burden on people’s finances. It also has had a big impact on mental health. Some research suggests medical insurance debt and your mental health could have strong connections. A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows that medical debt is significantly more present among those with depression and anxiety than among people who aren’t dealing with these emotional issues. The study suggested that those dealing with medical debt were twice as likely to report having delayed or forgone mental health care in the previous 12 months. It also was found that 27.3 percent of adults with current depression and 26.2 percent with anxiety reported having medical debt going back 12 months.
Is Your Medical Insurance Debt Affecting Your Mental Health?
Now that you’ve seen the statistics showing the strong connection between medical insurance debt and mental health, it may be good to start examining yourself. Is this something that’s been happening to you? One of the ways to find out is to see if there are any changes to your behavior. Have you been feeling emotionally overwhelmed lately? Maybe you’ve been working nonstop to pay off your debt and haven’t been able to take some time off. There are many people like you with medical insurance, but still have mounting debt they’re trying to pay off. This has left them with plenty of emotional pain and stress.
Seeking Help for Your Medical Debt and Emotional Health
But there’s no need for you to feel emotionally overwhelmed by this. There are ways you can seek help for both your medical insurance debt and your mental health. You can try reviewing and negotiating your medical bills before attempting to pay them. Make sure you understand your insurance charges and how to read a bill. The first step when negotiating any medical bills is to make sure there aren’t any mistakes. If you notice any errors, be sure to call the billing office of your provider to recode and rebill your insurer. Taking concerted action to further examine your bill and do something about it will help benefit your mental and emotional health. You’ll start to feel better about the action you’re taking.
What about Medical Debt Settlement?
Many people who have become drowned in medical debt have been turning to a debt settlement company to rectify their problems. Going this route has caused many to save a lot of money and reduce their debt burden. By negotiating with your creditors on your behalf, they may reduce your medical bills for less than the original amount. If successful, the debtor can then make a lump sum payment or a series of payments to settle it.
One debt settlement company that has been instrumental in lifting this burden off many people has been Prosperity Financial Network. This company’s process of helping many people get out of medical debt is considered straightforward and simple. They first assess if you qualify for their program and negotiate on your behalf with your creditors. Once a settlement has been reached, you can start making payments to settle your debt.
This could be a good option for some people. However, it’s important to analyze the pros and cons of a debt settlement company before deciding on that as a source to settle your medical bills. Whatever decision you make to eliminate your medical insurance debt, it must be a good one that’ll benefit your mental and emotional health.
Is your medical insurance debt and your mental health affecting your life? How much of an impact your medical insurance debt is having on your emotional health? If you’re personally coping with this or know someone who is, feel free to share in the comments below. As always, be sure to like or share this post with the next person you know who may benefit from this.
