With historic inflation and an ongoing pandemic, Americans have enough to worry about right now. The reality is that these uncertainties have only added to one of consumers’ biggest long-term struggles: health care costs. Today, rising costs are putting a strain on families’ budgets at a time when they can least afford it, forcing them to make unnecessarily difficult decisions when it comes to health care.
A 2021 study found that out-of-pocket costs – the bills consumers have to pay for the care insurance doesn’t cover – are continuing to swell. These costs neared $500 billion in 2021 and are projected to rise astronomically – to nearly $800 billion – by 2026. Decades-long rises in health care prices are on the cusp of being fully affected by inflation, threatening to leave families flatfooted very soon. Now, a Kaiser Health News-NPR investigation has found that 100 million Americans ― including 41% of adults ― are grappling with medical debt, a crisis that has been years in the making.
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