Confronted with medical bills and debt, many people are forced to make tradeoffs in their spending and saving priorities. Among all adults under age 65 who reported any problems with medical bills or accumulated debt, one-quarter (26%) said they had been unable to pay for basic necessities like food, heat, or rent because of medical bills; nearly two of five (39%) had used up all of their savings; one-quarter (26%) had taken on credit card debt; and one-tenth (11%) had taken out a mortgage against their home (Figure 6). Rates of reported tradeoffs were especially high among people who.
