A double whammy: Medical debt and COVID

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Those directly affected by the pandemic also had more problems paying their medical bills, according to a survey by The Commonwealth Fund.  Close to half of those in the survey said they had been directly affected by the pandemic in at least one of three ways: getting COVID-19, losing income, or losing employer coverage. One-third reported lost income. More than one-third of insured adults and half of uninsured adults reported they had problems paying medical bills or were paying off medical debt during the prior year.

Sara Collins, Vice President of Health Care Coverage and Access at The Commonwealth Fund, will discuss these and other findings and what they mean for a robust economic recovery in a telebriefing Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. with Washington Post health care reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb. Abutaleb is co-author of the bestselling book “Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History.”

This webinar is produced in partnership with The Commonwealth Fund.

Yasmeen Abutaleb joined The Washington Post in 2019 as a national reporter covering health policy, with a focus on the Department of Health and Human Services, health policy on Capitol Hill and health care in politics. She previously covered health care for Reuters, with a focus on the Affordable Care Act, federal health programs and drug pricing.

In 2016, Yasmeen was a lead reporter on a five-part series that examined the rising threat of antibiotic-resistant infections and the inability of the government and health-care industry to address the problem. Yasmeen has also reported in depth on the opioid crisis, changes to Medicaid and political influence on health policies.

Sara R. Collins, Ph.D., is vice president for health care coverage and access at The Commonwealth Fund.  An economist, Dr. Collins directs the Fund’s program on insurance coverage and access.  She also directs the Fund’s research initiative on Tracking Health System Performance.

Since joining the Fund in 2002, Dr. Collins has led several multi-year national surveys on health insurance and authored numerous reports, issue briefs and journal articles on health insurance coverage, health reform, and the Affordable Care Act. She has provided invited testimony before several Congressional committees and subcommittees.