The Burden of Out of Pockets Costs and Medical Debt Faced by Households with Chronic Health Conditions in the United States

Introduction: To examine the relationship between chronic health conditions and out-of-pocket costs (OOPC) and medical debt. Methods: Secondary data from the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) was used. Households whose head of household and spouse (for married households) were 18 to 64 years old were included. Results: Results from multivariate models showed that an increase in chronic health conditions by one increased the likelihood of having any OOPC by 68%, any medical debt by 135%, the amount of OOPC by 30% and the amount of medical debt by 60%. Conclusions: Findings from this study show that the presence of chronic health conditions impose a large financial burden on some households.