Black Americans carry twice the medical debt of white borrowers, study finds

Black Americans continue to face the highest rates of medical debt in the United States.

 Black Americans are nearly twice as likely as white borrowers to carry medical debt, according to a new study led by UC Berkeley researchers. The report found that racial disparities have persisted despite recent declines in medical debt nationwide.

The study analyzed credit reports from 2016 through 2022. According to The Daily Californian, it found that Black borrowers consistently carried the highest levels of medical debt in collections and the largest outstanding medical debt balances. Researchers found that in 2016, 15.6% of Black borrowers had new medical debt sent to collections. That compared with 8.7% of Hispanic borrowers, 8.6% of white borrowers and 1.8% of Asian and Pacific Islander borrowers.

While individual borrowers owed similar amounts, Black Americans were significantly more likely to have medical debt than other racial and ethnic groups. Medical debt affects nearly one in five U.S. households. Researchers said it can lead people to delay or skip medical care, increase housing and food insecurity, and contribute to personal bankruptcy. “Having medical debt may lead people to skip necessary health care,” co-author Charleen Hsuan of Pennsylvania State University said.

Lead author Alexander Adia, a UC Berkeley doctoral candidate, said the findings reflect broader structural inequalities affecting healthcare access. The study also found that medical debt declined nationwide between 2021 and 2022, largely because of expanded Medicaid enrollment and pandemic relief programs. However, racial disparities remained. In 2022, 11.2% of Black borrowers still had medical debt, compared with 6.5% of Hispanic borrowers.

Researchers found that states expanding Medicaid saw lower medical debt across all racial groups and smaller racial gaps than states that did not expand the program. Adia said broader improvements alone are not enough if significant disparities continue to affect specific communities.