Many patients with chronic conditions face medical debt, say removing it from credit reports would improve their financial situation
A recent national poll from the PAN Foundation’s Center for Patient Research finds one in three adults (31 percent) with a chronic condition has medical debt.
Among those individuals, half (50 percent) have at least $1,000 in debt, with an average of $3,480 in debt. Most respondents (59 percent) feel a rule removing disclosure of medical debt from credit reports would somewhat or significantly improve their financial situation.
Other findings include:
- Costs contributing to medical debt span several areas among respondents, most commonly emergency care (39 percent) and hospital stays (36 percent).
- Most adults with chronic conditions are aware of resources to help lower their costs, such as health savings accounts (HSAs)/flexible savings accounts (FSAs) (44 percent), prescription medication discount coupons (44 percent), and federal government programs (40 percent).
- Only 21 percent of respondents report being aware of nonprofit charitable organizations offering prescription financial assistance.
“Our most recent poll shows that far too many people living with a chronic health condition are facing financial challenges affording their care, resulting in medical debt,” said Amy Niles, Chief Mission Officer at the PAN Foundation. “Oftentimes, because of existing medical debt and continued high out-of-pocket healthcare costs, patients delay or forego treatment altogether, leading to poor health outcomes. Addressing these access and affordability challenges is critical to improving healthcare for all. In addition, our polling points to the need for more awareness and education around the availability of financial assistance from nonprofit charitable organizations, like the PAN Foundation. These independent national organizations can be a lifesaving resource for eligible patients, but it’s clear that better awareness is needed.”
Regardless of health insurance coverage, the polling shows patients living with chronic health conditions are facing medical debt at alarming rates. That’s one reason why the PAN Foundation remains committed to advocating for policy changes that improve healthcare access and affordability for everyone. Through its educational initiatives, PAN is also committed to ensuring people across the country understand how to navigate financial assistance opportunities, including those from charitable patient assistance foundations. Because everyone deserves access to affordable, equitable healthcare.
Polling methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States between February 4 and February 6, 2025, among 2,084 adults (aged 18 and over) by The Harris Poll on behalf of PAN Foundation via its Harris On Demand omnibus product. Included in the 2,084 adults were 1,273 adults with any chronic condition, defined as those who self-report having been diagnosed by a healthcare provider with at least one of several specific chronic conditions. Data were weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, household income, [employment], and political party affiliation, to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to other multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including, but not limited to coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments.
About the PAN Foundation
As a leading charitable foundation and healthcare advocacy organization, the PAN Foundation is dedicated to accelerating access to treatment for those who need it most and empowering patients on their healthcare journeys. We provide critical financial assistance for treatment costs, advocate for policy solutions that expand access to care, and deliver education on complex topics—all driven by our belief that everyone deserves access to affordable, equitable healthcare.
Since 2004, our financial assistance programs have helped more than 1.3 million people to start or stay on life-changing treatment. In addition, we’ve achieved major policy victories that increase access to care, mobilized patient advocates to call for change, and educated people nationwide on critical healthcare-related topics. We’re committed to working towards a future where equitable health outcomes are a reality for all. To learn more, visit panfoundation.org.