National survey finds more Americans struggling to pay medical bills

The largest poll ever conducted by Gallup found that the percentage of Americans who struggled to pay for needed medical care or medicine in the previous 12 months rose from 18 percent in January 2008 to 21 percent in December (Source: “21% of Americans scramble to pay medical, drug bills,” USA Today, March 10, 2009).

Each percentage point is equal to about 2.2 million people, according to Gallup researchers. Nearly every day in 2008 Gallup and disease management company Healthways surveyed a random sample of about  1,000 people. In total, 355,334 Americans were surveyed.

The survey results were part of a larger well-being ranking of states,  which examined life evaluation, healthy behaviors, work environment, physical health, emotional health, and access to basic necessities. Ohio ranked fifth from the bottom in the overall ranking.

Among the survey’s findings on medical expenses were that  more than half of the uninsured had trouble paying for health care or medications during the year, as did 30 percent of blacks and Hispanics, compared with 17 percent of whites and 13% of Asians. The survey also found that as the year progressed, fewer Americans reported getting health coverage through their jobs, dropping from 59% in the first quarter to 58% by the fourth quarter.