Self-reported health status and medical debt

This paper examines the relationship between self-reported health status and medical debt outcomes using data from the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics. There were two outcomes of interest: (a) the likelihood of having any medical debt, which included 4,227 households and (b) the amount of medical debt (medical debt > 0), which included 631 households. The results from the multivariate models showed that fair/poor health status increased the likelihood of having any medical debt by 73% and was associated with an increase in the amount of medical debt among those with medical debt by about 77% (p <.001) compared to those who reported better health. Poor health status appears to impose a financial burden on some households.