The real economy: Cost of living

From a 2013 low to the latest quarter, overall household debt is up by a little over 6%—or 5% if you take out student debt. But student debt is up almost 20%.


Fewer people skipped needed health care due to its cost or reported trouble paying medical bills in 2014, a new survey finds. These improvements, the first since the Commonwealth Fund began asking these questions roughly a decade ago, came as health reform’s major coverage expansions took effect in 2014.
Among the survey’s findings:

The number of people ages 19-64 without health insurance showed a statistically significant drop for the first time in the history of the biennial survey, from 36 million in 2012 to 29 million in 2014. The share of the population without insurance fell from 19 to 16 percent.

The share of people who failed to get needed health care because of cost fell from 43 percent in 2012 to 36 percent in 2014. This means fewer people said they skipped a recommended test, didn’t fill a prescription, avoided visiting a doctor or clinic when having a health problem, or failed to see a specialist for needed follow-up care.

The number of adults who reported problems with medical debt (such as difficulty paying bills) fell from an estimated 75 million in 2012 to 64 million in 2014. The share of the population reporting these problems fell from 41 to 35 percent.

Critics of health reform suggested it would harm young adults, but the opposite appears to be the case. People ages 19-34 made the biggest coverage gains of any age group between 2012 and 2014, with those with incomes below about $47,000 for a family of four seeing the greatest improvement.

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