The Burden of Medical Debt: Results from the Kaiser Family Foundation/New York Times Medical Bills Survey

Introduction
  1. Medical Debt Among People With Health Insurance, Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2014. https://www.kff.org/private-insurance/report/medical-debt-among-people-with-health-insurance/

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  2. People ages 65 and older also experience problems paying medical bills. However, since nearly all of them have access to health insurance coverage through Medicare, and since their family budget considerations are often quite different from those of younger adults, we limited this survey to those ages 18-64.

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Section 1: Who Has Medical Bill Problems and What Are the Contributing Factors?
  1. Throughout this report, higher deductibles are defined as $1,500 and above for an individual or $3,000 and above for a family.

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  2. Results are similar if respondents are grouped by an estimate of their income as a percentage of the federal poverty level (FPL) using information on income and family size, rather than based on household income alone.

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Section 4: Patients as Consumers
  1. New Requirements for 501(c)(3) Hospitals Under the Affordable Care Act, Internal Revenue Service, https://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Charitable-Organizations/New-Requirements-for-501(c)(3)-Hospitals-Under-the-Affordable-Care-Act

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Appendix 1: Reported Problems Paying Medical Bills By Demographic Group
  1. Throughout this report, higher deductibles are defined as $1,500 and above for an individual or $3,000 and above for a family.

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