The Burden of Medical Debt Faced by Households with Dependent Children in the United States: Implications for the Affordable Care Act of 2010

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the number of dependent children and medical debt outcomes. Results show that the presence of dependent children in the household increased the probability of having any medical debt by 8 % for “high” financial burden households, 4 % for households at the 50th percentile of the income distribution and 3 % for privately insured households. The amount of medical debt by households at the 75th percentile of the income distribution was also increased. These findings show that the number of dependent children in the household was associated with medical debt for households in the middle of the income distribution. These results may be explained by the fact that those households at the lower tail of the income distribution are more likely to have public coverage, which tends to have lower cost sharing compared to those with private insurance.