Medical bills lead to housing troubles

An article in Forbes today highlights the financial impact of increased medical costs in America. According to a recent survey, 77 million people have had medical bill problems in the last 12 months. This adds up to nearly two out of five working-age adults in the US. These problems can lead to serious credit damage and inability to afford mortgage or rent payments. In fact, 27% of people surveyed said their housing costs made it difficult to pay for health care.

[E]ven relatively small amounts of medical debt -- $500 or less -- can pose a hardship. One out of six respondents (16 percent) said that amount of debt had harmed their credit, and 12 percent with this amount of debt had housing problems.

The Access Project conducted the survey and recommends reforming the way that medical billing offices handle delinquent debt payments. Currently, late medical bills are often sold to collections agencies.

It's only fair, they argued, since medical debt is one of the few types of debt that is acquired involuntary and essentially acts as a "sickness tax" on top of the bills themselves by damaging the person's credit.