Having insurance is not a guarantee against medical debt, survey finds

You can still pile up medical debt even if you have insurance. In fact, a new Commonwealth Fund survey says almost one in three working-age adults with private insurance are paying off medical bills or debt.

Fifty-seven-year-old Jennifer Bakowski has been fighting terminal brain cancer for 7 years. She has insurance through her husband’s job but figures she still has about $8,000 in medical debt.

“And then we just pay the best we can, and it’s just a snowball. And that’s just how we live,” she said.

Bakowski’s situation isn’t unique, according to the Commonwealth Fund survey. It included around 4,100 adults with private insurance. Nearly half of those who had medical debt owed $2,000 or more.

“They are shocked by the fact that they still owe quite a bit of money to the provider despite the fact that they’ve been paying premiums regularly for their insurance coverage,” said Sara Collins, a co-author of the report.

The Commonwealth Fund report said hospital visits were the biggest drivers of medical debt. And they’re not just talking about emergencies, Collins said.

“Two in five people with medical debt said it was related to an ongoing or chronic health problem,” she said.

That includes conditions like cancer. Bakowski said they’ve taken around $120,000 out of their savings to pay for her care. But not everyone has a cash cushion. More than a third of the privately insured Americans the Commonwealth Fund surveyed wouldn’t be able to pay an unexpected medical bill of $1,000 within 30 days.