Key Findings

22% of Americans got more regular healthcare thanks to better health insurance access in the pandemic

Respondents ranking health insurance their largest expense dropped from 39% in 2020 to 26% in 2022

42% of Americans have medical debt

50% got surprise medical bills in the last year

58% are concerned that a major health situation in their household could lead to bankruptcy or debt

HealthCare.com’s 2022 Open Enrollment Period survey shows 1 in 5 Americans got more regular healthcare thanks to better health insurance access in the pandemic.

Respondents ranking health insurance their largest expense dropped from 39% in 2020 to 26% in 2022.

Yet over 2 in 5 Americans have medical debt.

And 1 in 2 experienced surprise medical bills in the last year.

Scroll down for the full results of HealthCare.com’s Medicare Survey 2022.

Open Enrollment Survey 2022

Over 1 in 5 Americans (22%) got more regular healthcare thanks to better health insurance access during the pandemic.

The healthy trend follows moves by the federal government to lift subsidies for health insurance and expand Medicaid during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

HealthCare.com polled 1,005 18+ Americans on October 11th.

More Americans were actually getting health insurance in the past two years. The number of uninsured dropped from 13% in our 2020 survey to 8% in 2022. 

Individuals with marketplace (ACA) plans rose from 5% in 2020 to 8% in 2022, while people on Medicaid rose from 12% of the adult population in 2020 to 19% in 2022.

We also found that the number of respondents ranking health insurance their largest expense dropped from 39% in 2020 to 26% in 2022.

Health Finances a Continuing Problem

While Americans enjoyed more regular healthcare and better health insurance access, financing the nation’s healthcare remains a problem. 

Among the uninsured, for example, 51% of respondents say the reason they can’t afford health insurance is that it’s too expensive. 

Many U.S. adults also carry medical debt. Our survey found that the percentage rose from 28% of the population in 2020 to 42% in 2022.

Among American adults with medical debt, 39% have debts over $1,000 and 6% over $10,000.

One cause of medical debt is surprise medical bills. Our 2022 survey showed that 50% of Americans experienced surprise medical bills in the last year.

Among them, 15% got up to $500 in surprise medical bills. 17% got surprise medical bills of $501-$2,000, 10% of $2,001-$10,000, and 4% of $10,001-$20,000. 3% received surprise medical bills in the last year of over $20,000.

Many Americans lack savings to pay medical bills. 26% have nothing in savings for emergency medical bills. 15% have just $1-$500, while on the other end, 16% of U.S. adults hold more than $6,000.

In case of an emergency, how much do you currently have in savings that you could use to pay for medical bills?

Some 31% of respondents say they don’t know how to pay for a severe illness, while 24% would pay with a credit card, and 16% would borrow money from family.

About one-half (49%) of Americans also skip a range of activities to afford healthcare. 23% of respondents forewent travel and another 23% entertainment to afford healthcare, followed by big-ticket purchases (18%).

Others forewent Christmas presents (16%), food (16%), home repair (14%) , fitness (14%), and rent (9%). 

Given high levels of medical debt and poor savings, 6 in 10 Americans (58%) are concerned that a major health situation in their household could lead to bankruptcy or debt.

Opting out of Healthcare

While some Americans got more regular healthcare thanks to improved health insurance access in the pandemic, many still opt out of healthcare. 

Our survey showed that 53% of respondents skipped healthcare services in the last year. 

Among them, 29% opted out of dental services, 21% vision, 17% lab tests, 15% emergency, 12% preventive, and 10% skipped elective healthcare. 

People avoided medical care for a variety of reasons. 32% said they did not feel sick enough, but 21% said they couldn’t afford healthcare. Another 17% said they didn’t like going to a doctor, and 12% were sick and should have gone but didn’t want to. 

Meanwhile, 8% of Americans said they opted out of healthcare because they didn’t have health insurance.

Which, if any, of the following are reasons why you have not sought healthcare services this past year?

Young Generations Struggling

As in past surveys, this year’s survey shows younger Americans struggling the most with health finances. 

51% of Millennials, 47% of Gen X, and 44% of Gen Z say they have medical debt. That compares to just 35% of the Silent Generation and 29% of Baby Boomers. 

Also at 61%, Millennials are the most likely to receive surprise medical bills, followed by Gen Z at 56%, and Gen X at 51%. That compares to 43% for the Silent Generation and 37% of Boomers.

Younger generations opt out of healthcare services at higher percentages. 67% of Gen Z skipped healthcare, followed by 64% of Millennials and 51% of Gen X. A similar 51% of the Silent Generation and 42% of Boomers opted out of healthcare services. 

Asked why they skipped healthcare, 24% each of Gen X and Millennials said it was because they couldn’t afford it, followed by 22% of Gen Z. 17% of Boomers said they opted out of healthcare because they couldn’t afford it, and only 5% of the Silent Generation. 

Meanwhile, 40% of Gen Z and 35% of Millennials say they forego paying for food and their rent or mortgage to afford healthcare. That compares to 24% of Gen X, 22% of the Silent Generation, and just 8% of Boomers. 

Still, younger Americans are more likely to say they benefitted from new health insurance subsidies and expanded Medicaid instituted during the COVID-19 public health emergency. 

34% of Millennials say they got more regular healthcare thanks to better access to health insurance during the pandemic, along with 24% of Gen Z.

That compares to 17% each of Gen X and Boomer respondents and 16% of the Silent Generation.

“These results show clearly that younger generations, many of whom skip healthcare for financial reasons, benefitted from the government’s pandemic health measures,” says HealthCare.com Senior Vice President of Insurance Deirdre Ragan. “People who buy Affordable Care Act plans should look into whether they qualify for these increased tax credits.”

Has medical debt

Methodology

HealthCare.com conducted this survey on October 11, 2022, utilizing a SurveyMonkey Audience to poll a national sample of  1,005 18+ U.S. adults. The margin of error for this survey is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points. The sample was balanced for age, gender, and U.S. region according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.