Chris Kissell has been a journalist for three decades and has written extensively about insurance and other personal finance topics for the past 20 years. For the last 14 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer and editor, contributing to sit.
Chris Kissell Insurance WriterChris Kissell has been a journalist for three decades and has written extensively about insurance and other personal finance topics for the past 20 years. For the last 14 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer and editor, contributing to sit.
Written By Chris Kissell Insurance WriterChris Kissell has been a journalist for three decades and has written extensively about insurance and other personal finance topics for the past 20 years. For the last 14 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer and editor, contributing to sit.
Chris Kissell Insurance WriterChris Kissell has been a journalist for three decades and has written extensively about insurance and other personal finance topics for the past 20 years. For the last 14 years, he has been a full-time freelance writer and editor, contributing to sit.
Insurance Writer Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
Les Masterson Deputy Editor, InsuranceLes Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before cove.
| Deputy Editor, Insurance
Updated: Feb 15, 2024, 5:06am
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
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More than 92% of the U.S. population has health insurance, which can keep your medical bills more manageable. But there were still 26 million Americans (8% of the U.S. population) who didn’t have health insurance in 2022, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census.
Key Takeaways
Not having health insurance can lead to large debt, affect your health if you delay care and may even hurt you at tax time, depending on your state.
Here are aspects of being uninsured that you should understand.
Medical debt is any balance or amount owed after receiving medical services or goods, according to Shannon P. Miller, a partner at national financial services law firm Maurice Wutscher in Philadelphia. “In a broad sense of the term, this would include amounts owed that are not past due, as well as amounts that haven’t been paid and have become delinquent and sent to collections,” he says.
If you don’t have health insurance, you’re at much greater risk of accumulating medical bills that you may not be able to pay. In a worst-case scenario, you could be sued and have your wages garnished. You might even be forced into bankruptcy.
The Commonwealth Fund’s 2023 Health Care Affordability Survey found that 38% of people surveyed said they delayed or skipped needed healthcare or prescription drugs because they couldn’t afford it. Medical debt is the major reason with 34% pointing to that as the reason they avoided care.
Having health insurance didn’t prevent medical debt, with about one-third of those with an employer-sponsored health plan or Affordable Care Act marketplace plan saying they had medical or dental care debt, according to The Commonwealth Fund.
More than eight out of 10 adults with medical or dental debt reported at least $500 in debt and 22% said they had at least $5,000 in debt. Over half of the debt came from hospital care and 37% from doctor visits.
How Can You Tackle Medical Debt?
The Affordable Care Act initially required that nearly all Americans have health insurance or get hit with a tax penalty. Congress later eliminated the federal penalty, but some states have their own health insurance mandates.
The tax penalty for not having health insurance varies by state:
Some people need special medical devices to treat health conditions. For example, if you have sleep apnea, you might need a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to help you breathe at night.
There are an estimated 2 million medical devices available to treat health conditions. In some cases, these devices are implanted into the patient’s body. About 10% of Americans will use an implanted device at some point during their lives, according to the American Medical Association.
You will have to pay for these devices yourself if you don’t have health insurance. Health insurance may cover many types of medical devices, though newer technologies may not be covered.
Health insurance companies typically follow the lead of Medicare in deciding whether to cover these devices, and Medicare is usually conservative with new devices and therapies.
If you have health insurance, you probably have found yourself grumbling about all the costs you pay, including premiums, deductibles, copays and coinsurance. These costs are a bargain compared to what you might pay without insurance.
Most people who are uninsured don’t receive their care for free or even at a lesser charge, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). In fact, just 27% of the uninsured receive such price breaks. To make matters worse, hospitals often charge uninsured patients two to four times more than what health insurers and public programs typically pay for hospital services, KFF says. Without health insurance, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical bills. Your bills could be so substantial as to be financially ruinous.
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