Covid Measures Helped Reduce Medical Debts in US, Study Shows

Fewer American families struggled to pay their medical bills in 2021, according to a new report, a sign that efforts to broaden access to health care and insurance are succeeding.

About 11% of people belonged to families that had trouble paying medical bills in 2021 — down from 14% in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, according to a study of thousands of US households by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Those who struggled in many cases had low family incomes, were uninsured or resided in states where Medicaid ...