About one in five working-age insured people are having problems paying their medical bills, according to a new poll.
The poll released Tuesday from the New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation comes amidst new worries about rising deductibles and other cost-sharing requirements.
The survey found that about 20 percent of Americans with insurance had trouble paying medical bills in the past year that often cause “serious financial challenges and changes in employment and lifestyle,” according to Kaiser.
Among the people who are uninsured, about 53 percent have issues with medical bills.
The poll also details what people will do to pay their medical bills. Among those who are insured with medical bill problems, 63 percent reported using up most or all of their savings and 42 percent worked more, Kaiser said.
The poll found some less dire consequences for those with medical bill problems, such as not going on vacation or making major household purchases (77 percent), spending less on food and clothing (75 percent) and racking up credit card debt (38 percent).
The findings come as deductibles and cost-sharing such as co-pays are rising, forcing insured people to take up a larger share of the burden of paying for healthcare, Kaiser found.
In addition, more healthcare plans are providing narrow networks of providers, which may force people to go out-of-network to get the care they need.
That is the case with some Obamacare plans, as plans on the insurance marketplaces offer about 34 percent fewer doctors and hospitals than typical plans, according to a July study from the healthcare firm Avalere Health.
The Obama administration has recommended that Obamacare enrollees shop for a cheaper and better plan in the latest open enrollment, and it added new doctor lookup features and a cost calculator to healthcare.gov to help consumers find a plan.
The Kaiser/New York Times poll was of 2,575 people ages 18 to 64.
