In Lucie Kalousova and Sarah Burgard’s study, a report of which appears in the [*Journal of Health and Social Behavior*](http://hsb.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/04/25/0022146513483772.abstract), people with credit card or medical debt were more likely to forego medical and dental care than those with other kinds of debt, such as housing, car, or student loans. Kalousova says that most study participants carried some form of debt and that those forgoing care were much more likely to have medical debt (58% vs. 20%) and to have more of it ($8,889 vs. $2,783) than those not forgoing care. Respondents who put off needed health care also had lower net worth and lower household income and were more likely to be uninsured than those who did not.

More about Kalousova and Burgard find credit card debt increases likelihood of foregoing medical care >