A new survey released today by Gallup and West Health found that nearly half of Americans in the COVID-19 era fear a health-related incident could drive them into bankruptcy, UPI.com reported. Gallup and West Health said 50 percent of respondents said they're concerned about medical bankruptcy -- a 5 percent increase from early this year, before the pandemic. That concern rose 12 points among U.S. adults between 18 and 29 and non-White Americans. The study found that 15 percent of respondents said at least one person in their home currently has medical debt that will not be repaid in the next 12 months. "Those in households earning less than $40,000 per year are more than four times as likely as those in households earning $100,000 or more to be carrying long-term medical debt (28% vs. 6%, respectively)," Gallup added.
