A new study from the Commonwealth Fund produced one of the most concerning statistics yet about the US medical debt crisis: about one in three working-age (19-64), privately insured adults are paying off medical debt. When we talk about medical debt, our lack of universal coverage and the risks of being un- or under-insured are often top of mind (and rightly so, given that 62 percent of uninsured adults carry medical debt). However, rising deductibles and cost-sharing rates have eroded the financial protections offered by commercial insurance—the supposed safety blanket within our flawed system. 
 
Medical debtholders blame insurance companies the most, but the story is of course much more complicated. On top of ever-escalating healthcare prices, Americans’ savings have been depleted by inflation, leaving half of privately insured adults unsure or unable to pay a surprise $1K medical bill, and one quarter of all adults without any emergency savings at all. Relatedly, US household debt reached an all-time high earlier this year. Many surveys have found healthcare to be voters’ number one financial concern heading into the midterms, but neither party has coalesced around a comprehensive proposal to tackle this issue. It is a difficult problem to solve while healthcare spending continues to grow unchecked. Whether through premiums, out-of-pocket costs, taxes, suppressed wage growth, or avoided care, Americans ultimately bear the cost of the healthcare system one way or another.