Medical debt doubles risk of skipping mental health care for depression and anxiety

Medical debt is significantly more prevalent among adults with depression or anxiety compared to adults without these mental disorders, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Among adults with depression or anxiety, those with medical debt were twice as likely to report having delayed or forgone mental health care in the previous 12 months compared to those without medical debt.

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2022 National Health Interview Survey of 27,651 U.S. adults. The researchers measured the prevalence of medical debt among those with depression or anxiety-;both currently and in the past over their lifetime-;and evaluated the relationship of medical debt with delayed and forgone mental health care over the previous 12 months.

Among adults with current depression and medical debt, 36.9 percent delayed mental healthcare and 38 percent did not seek out care in the previous 12 months. In comparison, for those reporting current depression and no medical debt, 17.4 percent reported delaying mental health care in the previous 12 months and 17.2 percent reported forgoing it altogether in the past 12 months.

Among adults with current anxiety and medical debt, 38.4 percent delayed care and 40.8 percent did not seek care in the previous 12 months. For adults reporting current anxiety and no medical debt, 16.9 percent reported delaying care and 17.1 percent reported forgoing care in the previous 12 months.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240719/Medical-debt-doubles-risk-of-skipping-mental-health-care-for-depression-and-anxiety.aspx

It is not "freedom" to skip medical care because of the cost.