Americans may not want to pay higher taxes to pay for universal health care, but they are willing to voluntarily contribute to another person's health care costs–whether they know the individual personally or not.

With no overall solution to the problem of unaffordable health care in sight, Americans have instead turned to Band-Aid fixes, such as skipping care, rationing drugs, and even flying to other countries for major procedures. Another trend in recent years: crowdfunding to cover the cost of medical bills.

According to a recent study from the NORC at University of Chicago, 20 percent of American adults have contributed to a crowdfunding campaign to help someone cover their medical bills.

"As annual out-of-pocket costs continue to rise, more Americans are struggling to pay their medical bills, and millions are turning to their social networks and crowdfunding sites to fund medical treatments and pay medical bills," said Mollie Hertel, senior research scientist at NORC. "Although about a quarter of Americans report having sponsored or donated to a campaign, this share is likely to increase in the face of rising premiums and out-of-pocket costs."

How common is this bill pay strategy? According to the survey, 8 million Americans have created a crowdfunding campaign to pay medical bills, while another 12 million have done so on behalf of someone else, amounting to approximately 8 percent of all Americans.

The study also asked who should ultimately be responsible for covering the costs of unaffordable medical procedures. While 73 percent of respondents felt they personally had either some or a great deal of responsibility to chip in, 85 percent also felt the government should be shouldering a greater role.

"It is clear that Americans want government and providers to work together to provide charity or assistance when needed," said Susan Cahn, senior research scientist at NORC. "Fewer Americans think that family, friends or even strangers should shoulder the costs of care that patients and their families cannot afford."

Read more:

Instant Insights /

20 percent of Americans have donated to a medical bill crowdfunding campaign

More From HR Executive

Related Stories

Recommended For You