Housing Instability Following Medical Debt Exposure Among US Adults, 2023 to 2025

Is medical debt associated with housing instability?This nationally representative cohort study of 1515 US adults estimated that any medical debt was associated with a 7–percentage point increase in the probability of experiencing housing instability in the subsequent year.These findings suggest medical debt undermines assets and imperils future housing stability, which may, in turn, worsen health for adults carrying medical debt.

Corresponding Author: Catherine K. Ettman, PhD, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1812 Ashland Ave, Ste 323, Baltimore, MD 21205 (cettman1@jh.edu).

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