Black and Latinx/Hispanic adults were more likely to have medical bill problems and a loss of income during the pandemic.

More than half of Black and nearly half of Latinx/Hispanic adults said they had medical bill problems and debt, compared to one-third of white adults.
Overall, one-third of adults said their income fell during the pandemic, but Black, Latinx/Hispanic and low-income adults were particularly hard hit.
44% of Black adults and 45% Latinx/Hispanic adults reported a loss of income.

Insured and uninsured adults alike struggle to pay their medical bills, but those without coverage face greater challenges.

More than one-third of insured adults and half of uninsured adults said they had a medical bill problem or were paying off medical debt.
One-third of working-age adults with employer coverage reported medical bill or debt problems, as did nearly half of adults with individual and marketplace coverage.

Relatively few adults lost job-based health insurance coverage during the pandemic. However, many of those who did were left exposed to health care costs.

Just 6% of working-age adults lost job-based coverage since the pandemic began. Of these individuals, 67% gained coverage elsewhere.
Just over half of people who lost coverage through their job and did not get COBRA were without coverage for three months or less. About 30% did not gain insurance until four to 11 months later, and 16% were uninsured for longer than a year.

One in 10 working-age adults were uninsured during the first half of 2021. More people have gained insurance than lost it since the pandemic began. Federal efforts to help people maintain their Medicaid coverage, combined with state and federal efforts to encourage people to enroll in the ACA marketplaces and in Medicaid, have increased enrollment in both.

Instant Insights /

People who had COVID-19 or lost insurance during pandemic struggling financially

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