Accessing mental health care is the most important way to improve your life. No matter what you want help with, licensed professionals are available to help. Unfortunately, that care also comes with a price tag. Medical debt relief may not be enough to solve the problem of surprise medical bills after getting mental health support. Learn how medical debt affects mental health for individuals and what else you can do to get financial relief that supports your well-being.
Ways Mental Health Care Results in Medical Bills
If you’ve ever needed mental health care support, you’re not alone. The National Institute of Mental Health found that 57.8 million Americans lived with a mental illness in 2021. Once you’re ready to get professional help with your symptoms, you may deal with surprise medical bills after:
- Speaking with your primary care physician results in a bill for your doctor’s visit.
- Talking with a therapist requires paying hourly fees.
- Accessing help through a mental health facility can mean paying a costly bill for care services that weren’t clear when you checked in.
- Getting a new prescription might cost more than you thought when you’re checking out at a pharmacy and could get more costly if the drug manufacturer raises prices.
Financial stress shouldn’t keep people from talking with experts about how to improve their mental well-being. It’s a common stressor that can even make your mental health worse if costly fees surprise you.
How Medical Debt Affects Mental Health
Medical bills aren’t always straightforward. You might think you know what the appointment fee will be when you check out, but you could still get a bill in the mail weeks later. Experts found that 87% of consumers received a surprising medical bill in 2021, which may be in part because insurance billing takes time to process.
Even improvements in health care coverage haven’t made medical bills less anxiety-inducing for the average American. Researchers noted that even after the Affordable Care Act expanded mental health coverage for enrollees, their financial stress didn’t statistically change much due to factors like still struggling to pay their resulting bills.
Staring at a bill isn’t the only way accessing mental health care affects someone’s mental health. Paying those bills on time requires changes in a person’s monthly budget. It’s one reason why two out of five people with medical debt reported cutting back on rent, food or utilities to pay medical bills. They also noted they worked a second job or additional hours.
As you learn how medical debt affects mental health, keep the ripple effects in mind. Losing nutrition, reducing your sleep schedule and skipping other bills all add to a person’s stress and might make others think twice before accessing care.
Why Medical Debt Relief Helps
You might think that medical debt forgiveness is the best way to resolve the related stress people feel after seeing health care professionals. It resolves any immediate anxiety about paying those bills, which will significantly improve a person’s quality of life. However, it also leaves a few other issues people need to deal with.
A recent study on the effects of medical debt relief found that people with forgiven debt still struggled with their mental health due to how the debt affected the rest of their lives. They still faced challenges with accessing credit, dealing with financial distress in their personal lives and utilizing health care resources without anxiety.
Someone who paid utility bills with their credit card to pay their medical debt while it lasted will have new debt to pay off after a medical debt relief organization takes care of their health-related bills. The additional challenges don’t mean that medical debt relief shouldn’t exist. They just point toward the need for further support resources outside of bills coming from clinics or hospitals.
Additional Ways People Can Find Financial Relief
Anyone grappling with financial stressors after experiencing debt relief can get assistance. The federal government provides utility bill assistance programs to help people pay for their internet, phone and electricity bills.
State governments also have various resources to support their residents through financially challenging situations. Check your state’s government website to look into resources for food assistance, unemployment benefits, rental assistance and more. The federal government also organizes the same financial programs, which you may qualify for depending on your income and debt.
A local financial advisor may lighten your stress load as well. They can point out how to navigate monthly bills while paying off debt over time. If an organization forgave your medical debt, a financial advisor will lead you through the process of restructuring your budget to manage your existing bills or debt as best as possible. See if any advisors in your area schedule free consultations to inquire more about how a new financial perspective could alleviate some of your anxiety.
Manage Medical Bills With Less Stress
Surprise medical bills shouldn’t keep anyone from getting the assistance they need. Learning how medical debt affects the mental health of individuals seeking help will help you determine the best way to get affordable care too. Once you know how those bills surprise people, you can talk with providers about their fees and feel more prepared when insurance bills show up in your mailbox.