Individuals with Medical Debt Are Five Times More Likely to Miss Out on Mental Health Treatment

In recent years, the complex relationship between medical debt and access to mental health care has garnered increasing attention from public health researchers. A groundbreaking study led by scholars at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has now provided robust longitudinal evidence highlighting the substantial impact of medical debt on the likelihood of individuals forgoing mental health treatment due to financial constraints. This pivotal study, published in the prestigious JAMA Health Forum, sheds light on the persistent and troubling barriers that prevent millions of Americans from receiving necessary mental health services.

The investigation leveraged comprehensive data from a nationwide survey conducted in 2023 and 2024, focusing on the intersection between medical indebtedness and mental health care accessibility. Notably, the researchers distilled insights from 1,821 respondents participating in the COVID-19 Life Stressors Impact on Mental Health and Well-Being (CLIMB) study, a longitudinal research initiative co-led by senior author Dr. Catherine Ettman. This design enabled the team to establish a temporal sequence showing that existing medical debt precedes the decision to forgo mental health care, thus bolstering the inference of a causal relationship.

Statistical analysis unveiled a striking disparity in mental health care utilization between those burdened by medical debt and those without. Approximately 33.8% of participants reporting medical debt in 2023 admitted to foregoing mental health care the following year expressly due to cost reasons. In stark contrast, only 6.3% of respondents without medical debt reported similar barriers to care in 2024. After adjusting for confounding variables such as demographics and personal assets, the data indicated a significant 17.3 percentage point increase in the likelihood of avoiding mental health treatment among debt-holders.

Delving deeper, the research stratified participants’ medical debt into three categories, unveiling a gradient effect where the probability of forgoing care escalated with debt magnitude. Individuals with medical debt under $1,000 had the lowest rates of cost-related treatment avoidance at 28.9%, whereas those with debt exceeding $5,000 exhibited the highest rate at 46.3%. Although these differences did not reach statistical significance—likely a consequence of sample size limitations—the trend suggests a dose-response dynamic warranting further exploration in larger cohorts.

These findings assume critical importance against the backdrop of the broader mental health landscape in the United States. National statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health reveal that nearly one in four adults live with a mental illness at some point, yet only about half of these individuals receive treatment. Financial obstacles, exacerbated by mounting medical debt which is estimated to affect roughly 20 million Americans, are identified as significant contributors to this pervasive treatment gap. The new study underlines that medical debt is not merely a financial burden but also an impediment to essential health service utilization.

The longitudinal approach adopted by the researchers represents a methodological advancement over previous cross-sectional studies. By analyzing data collected across two consecutive years, the team could more confidently infer that medical debt precedes and increases the risk of forgoing mental health care rather than simply co-occurring. This temporal insight strengthens the argument that interventions targeting medical debt relief could yield meaningful improvements in mental health treatment engagement.

Dr. Kyle Moon, the study’s lead author and doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, emphasized that these results highlight an urgent public health concern. Mental health disorders constitute a leading cause of disability worldwide, and cost-driven barriers to treatment exacerbate the individual and societal toll. Moon advocates for expanded research efforts employing larger samples to refine understanding of the debt-treatment nexus and to evaluate policy measures aiming to alleviate medical debt burdens.

The research also points to systemic implications for health policy and healthcare delivery models. Current insurance frameworks and healthcare payment structures often allow patients to accumulate substantial out-of-pocket expenses, inadvertently perpetuating a cycle where indebtedness hinders subsequent care. The study’s authors suggest that addressing medical debt through policy reform, financial counseling, and expanded coverage could reduce disparities in mental health access and improve outcomes.

To capture the full effects of medical debt on mental health care, future investigations will need to incorporate more granular data on debt types, duration, and repayment challenges. Additionally, exploring psychosocial and behavioral consequences of indebtedness could illuminate pathways through which financial stress translates into care avoidance. Integrating these insights with health economics and policy research will be pivotal in designing multidisciplinary strategies to bolster mental health equity.

The study, titled “Medical Debt and Forgone Mental Health Care Due to Cost Among Adults,” was co-authored by Kyle Moon, Katherine Miller, Sandro Galea, and Catherine Ettman. It stands as a call to action for public health practitioners, policymakers, and clinicians alike to recognize and address the financial determinants undermining mental health care accessibility. Funded by a grant from the de Beaumont Foundation, this work exemplifies the critical intersection of socioeconomic factors and health outcomes in contemporary research.

In conclusion, this Johns Hopkins-led investigation offers compelling evidence that medical debt acts as a formidable barrier to mental health care among American adults. With over a third of indebted individuals forgoing treatment due to cost—a figure nearly five times greater than that of their non-indebted counterparts—the study unearths a stark inequity demanding urgent attention. Moving forward, sustained research and targeted policy interventions are essential to bridge the mental health treatment gap and dismantle financial obstacles preventing those in need from accessing care.

Subject of Research: The impact of medical debt on the likelihood of adults forgoing mental health care due to cost in the United States.

Article Title: Medical Debt and Forgone Mental Health Care Due to Cost Among Adults

News Publication Date: April 18, 2024

Web References:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2832767#google_vignette

References:
Moon, K., Miller, K., Galea, S., & Ettman, C. K. (2024). Medical Debt and Forgone Mental Health Care Due to Cost Among Adults. JAMA Health Forum.

Keywords: mental health, medical debt, healthcare access, treatment gap, health economics, longitudinal study, public health, healthcare disparities

Tags: barriers to mental health care in Americacausal relationship between debt and mental health treatmentCLIMB study on life stressors and mental healthCOVID-19 impact on mental health servicesfinancial constraints and mental health care accessimpact of financial strain on mental health treatmentJAMA Health Forum study on medical debtJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchlongitudinal research on mental health and debtmedical debt and mental health accessmental health treatment disparitiespublic health implications of medical debt