Twenty-five percent of Americans say they currently have more medical debt than emergency savings, according to a Bankrate.com report released today.

That figure nearly doubles for households earning less than $30,000 per year: 44% reported more medical debt than emergency savings, the study found. Findings are part of Bankrate.com's Health Insurance Pulse, a monthly survey that tracks how Americans feel about healthcare and their personal finances.

The results were based on telephone interviews with more than 1,000 adults living in the continental U.S., and conducted in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source in August.

Other findings include:

Most Americans (55%) were either very worried or somewhat worried that they might find themselves overwhelmed by medical debt, compared with 43% who were either not too worried or not worried at all; 27% were very worried and 28% somewhat worried.
More than half (55%) were either very worried or somewhat worried about winding up without affordable health insurance, vs. 43% who were either not too worried or not at all worried.
Worry levels were highest among people in their prime earning years, between the ages 30 and 64.

“These results show that more than half the population feels financially insecure when it comes to health care. This is an issue that affects consumer confidence and the broader economy,” says Bankrate.com insurance analyst Doug Whiteman.

The high percentage of respondents who said they were concerned about affordable health insurance might suggest that many are either uninformed about the government health insurance exchanges or lacking confidence in the Affordable Care Act, Whiteman added.

To access the complete study, go to:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/insurance/health-insurance-poll-0814.aspx

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Study: 1 in 4 have more medical debt than emergency savings

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