medical costs rising

Medical Bills Burden 72 Million Working-Age Adults in U.S. 

By Aliza Marcus

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Medical bills were cited as a burden by 41 percent of working-age Americans in a survey, up from 34 percent two years earlier.

An estimated 72 million adults under age 65 have difficulty paying their medical bills or are paying off debt from health- care expenses, based on the survey, taken last year and released today by the Commonwealth Fund, a health-policy center in New York. Sixty-one percent of those struggling said they had health insurance.

Health-care costs have been rising at about double the rate of inflation and faster than wages. That's making it increasingly difficult for those without insurance to pay their bills and for those with coverage to afford co-payments, deductibles and gaps in coverage, said Commonwealth Fund officials on a conference call yesterday with reporters.

``The survey showed that our health system is falling short of where it should be,'' said Karen Davis, Commonwealth's president, during the call. ``This highlights the need for the new administration to make health-care reform a priority.''

The survey of 3,501 adults was conducted from June 6 through October 24, 2007, and the results were compared with a similar study two years earlier.

Based on the newer survey, 28 million Americans used all their savings on medical expenses, 21 million built up substantial credit-card debt and 21 million couldn't pay for basics such as food, heat or rent.

``Working people are struggling to pay their bills and accruing medical debt,'' said Sara Collins, the fund's assistant vice president, in a statement.

The medical patchwork in the U.S. of private insurance backed up by limited government care leaves people vulnerable, Davis said.

Costs Internationally

In a 2005 international survey by the Commonwealth Fund, half of Americans said they had problems getting needed medical care because of cost, compared with a low of 13 percent in the U.K. and a high of 38 percent in New Zealand.

In the survey released today, adults at all income levels spent more of their income on out-of-pocket costs and premiums in 2007 than they did six years earlier, according to the biennial survey.

Twenty-five percent of people earning $60,000 or more reported difficulties with medical costs, compared with 20 percent in 2005. Fifty-three percent of people with incomes of less than $20,000 said they had problems, up from 43 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aliza Marcus in Washington atamarcus8@bloomberg.net