Sixteen percent of Americans, or 43.3 million, are in families who had trouble paying medical bills in the first half of this year, according to the CDC's National Health Interview Survey.
The report includes estimates for the percentage of Americans under age 65 who had difficulty financing medical expenses from 2011 through the first six months of 2017. During this time period, the percentage of uninsured individuals fell from 17.3 percent in 2011 to 10.5 percent in the first six months of 2017.
Here are four statistics from the report.
1. While 16 percent of Americans under age 65 were in families who had trouble financing medical bills in the first half of this year, that percentage is down from 2011, when 21.3 percent of Americans fell into this category.
2. The percentage of individuals under age 65 in families having problems paying medical bills did not change significantly between 2016 and the first half of this year.
3. The percentage of children who were in families expressing issues with paying medical expenses fell from 23.2 percent in 2011 to 17.1 percent in the first half of this year.
4. In the first half of this year among Americans under age 65, 29.4 percent of uninsured individuals, 20.5 percent of those covered by public health insurance and 12.3 percent of those with private health plans were in families who had trouble financing their medical expenses in the past 12 months.
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