Household economic security and medical debt onset: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To examine how household medical debt responds to changes in income and new health events. STUDY DESIGN: Secondary analysis of a panel survey. METHODS: We analyzed data from 6,599 households in the 2019-2021 waves of the nationally representative US Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) with no medical debt in 2019. We focus on the onset of unpaid medical bills, classifying debt ≥20 % of annual income as high burden and
Fields of Study & Subjects
Healthcare Policy and Management
Economic and Financial Impacts of Cancer
Healthcare Systems and Reforms
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Public Health
- Volume
- 253
- Pages
- 106173–106173
- Publication date
- 6 February 2026
- Language
- EN