Health and Health Care Utilization Effects of Medical Debt Forgiveness
28 april 2026 uppdaterad av: Wesley Yin, University of California, Los Angeles
The goal of this study is to estimate the direct, causal impact of medical debt on health care utilization, mental health, and wellbeing of patients.
The investigators will conduct a survey to measure the impact of the debt forgiveness on health care use, mental health, and wellbeing.
The survey will be administered to approximately 17,000 subjects of a recent medical financial intervention.
In that prior intervention, a non-profit charity, RIP Medical Debt, purchased and abolished medical debt for a randomly selected about 6,000 (out of the 17,000) individuals.
In this current protocol, the investigators will administer the survey, and will compare surveyed outcomes of subjects who received and did not receive the intervention.
Studieöversikt
Status
Avslutad
Betingelser
Intervention / Behandling
Detaljerad beskrivning
This study will estimate the direct, causal impact of medical debt on health care utilization, mental health, and wellbeing of patients.
To do so, the investigators will administer a survey to approximately 17,000 subjects of a recent medical financial intervention.
In that intervention, a non-profit charity, RIP Medical Debt, purchased and abolished medical debt for a randomly selected about 6,000 (out of the 17,000) study subjects.
In this current protocol, the investigators will compare surveyed outcomes of subjects who received and did not receive the medical debt abolishment intervention.
Because debt abolishment was randomized, comparing surveyed outcomes of treated and control subjects in the cross-section will allow the study to estimate the causal impact of the medical debt abolishment.
The survey will measure the effects of medical debt on three sets of outcomes: (i) health care utilization, as measured by medical care visits, prescription drug utilization and adherence, and unmet need for medical care; (ii) mental health, as measured by validated screens for depression and anxiety; and (iii) subjective wellbeing, as measured by self-reported health, forgone consumption, and financial strain.
This study would be the first to provide a direct, causal connection between the rising personal debt associated with U.S. health care and the health outcomes of its recipients.
Studietyp
Observationell
Inskrivning (Faktisk)
15008
Kontakter och platser
Det här avsnittet innehåller kontaktuppgifter för dem som genomför studien och information om var denna studie genomförs.
Studieorter
-
-
California
-
Los Angeles, California, Förenta staterna, 90095
- Wesley Yin
-
-
Deltagandekriterier
Forskare letar efter personer som passar en viss beskrivning, så kallade behörighetskriterier. Några exempel på dessa kriterier är en persons allmänna hälsotillstånd eller tidigare behandlingar.
Urvalskriterier
Åldrar som är berättigade till studier
18 år och äldre (Vuxen, Äldre vuxen)
Tar emot friska volontärer
Ja
Testmetod
Sannolikhetsprov
Studera befolkning
The study population is a probability sample drawn from population of individuals who owe medical debt held by FFAM, a debt collection agency.
Beskrivning
Inclusion Criteria:
- Individuals ages 18 and over who owed medical debt to FFAM, a debt collections agency
Exclusion Criteria:
- Excluded individuals who owed less than $500 in medical debt to FFAM
- Excluded individuals with missing social security numbers
Studieplan
Det här avsnittet ger detaljer om studieplanen, inklusive hur studien är utformad och vad studien mäter.
Hur är studien utformad?
Designdetaljer
Kohorter och interventioner
Grupp / Kohort |
Intervention / Behandling |
|---|---|
|
Treatment
Subjects in this "treatment" group had their medical debt forgiven by a non-profit charity, RIP Medical Debt.
This protocol will administer a survey to measure subjects' health care utilization, mental health, and subjective well-being.
|
A non-profit charity, RIP Medical Debt, bought and retired medical debt for individuals that were assigned to the treatment group.
|
|
Control
No intervention was given to subjects in this "control" group.
This protocol will administer a survey to measure subjects' health care utilization, mental health, and subjective well-being.
|
Vad mäter studien?
Primära resultatmått
Resultatmått |
Åtgärdsbeskrivning |
Tidsram |
|---|---|---|
|
8-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) Depression Scale
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Scores on the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating greater severity of depression.
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Sekundära resultatmått
Resultatmått |
Åtgärdsbeskrivning |
Tidsram |
|---|---|---|
|
Received Needed Health Care
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Binary response to: "If you needed medical care in the last 12 months, did you get ALL the medical care you needed?" (Health Care Utilization domain)
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
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Received Needed Rx
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Binary response to: "If you needed prescription medications in the last 12 months, did you get all the prescription medications you needed?" (Health Care Utilization domain)
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
|
7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD7) Scale
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Scores on the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater severity of anxiety (Mental Health Domain).
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
|
Stress
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Binary response to: "Stress means a situation in which a person feels tense, restless, nervous or anxious or is unable to sleep at night because his/her mind is troubled all the time.
Do you feel this kind of stress these days?"
(Mental Health Domain)
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
|
General Health
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Response to: "In general, would you say your health is: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor?" (General Health Domain)
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
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Happiness
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Response to: "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days - would you say that you are Very Happy, Pretty Happy, or Not Too Happy?" (Subjective Wellbeing Domain)
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
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Problems paying other bills
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Response to: "Besides medical bills, have you had problems paying other types of bills in the past 12 months?"
(Financial Stress Domain)
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
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Changes in spending due to medical debt
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Indexed response to: "As a result of medical bills have you cut back on spending in the past 12 months on i) basic necessities (like food, heat or housing, or other basic household items), ii) Big-ticket items (like cars, furniture, or appliances); iii) business investments?"
(Financial Stress Domain)
|
An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
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Changes in borrowing due to medical debt
Tidsram: An average of 12 months after the intervention.
|
Indexed response to: "As a result of medical bills, in the past 12 months, have you i) Increased your credit card debt, or charge card debt?
ii) Borrowed money from a payday lender?; iii) Borrowed from friends and family?; iv) Used up all or most of your savings?; v) Increased debt on other lines of credit?" (Financial Stress Domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Samarbetspartners och utredare
Det är här du hittar personer och organisationer som är involverade i denna studie.
Samarbetspartners
Utredare
- Huvudutredare: Wesley Yin, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Studieavstämningsdatum
Dessa datum spårar framstegen för inlämningar av studieposter och sammanfattande resultat till ClinicalTrials.gov. Studieposter och rapporterade resultat granskas av National Library of Medicine (NLM) för att säkerställa att de uppfyller specifika kvalitetskontrollstandarder innan de publiceras på den offentliga webbplatsen.
Studera stora datum
Studiestart (Faktisk)
9 november 2020
Primärt slutförande (Faktisk)
31 december 2021
Avslutad studie (Faktisk)
31 december 2021
Studieregistreringsdatum
Först inskickad
27 mars 2021
Först inskickad som uppfyllde QC-kriterierna
4 april 2021
Första postat (Faktisk)
8 april 2021
Uppdateringar av studier
Senaste uppdatering publicerad (Faktisk)
30 april 2026
Senaste inskickade uppdateringen som uppfyllde QC-kriterierna
28 april 2026
Senast verifierad
1 april 2026
Mer information
Termer relaterade till denna studie
Nyckelord
Ytterligare relevanta MeSH-villkor
Andra studie-ID-nummer
- IRB#20-001700
Plan för individuella deltagardata (IPD)
Planerar du att dela individuella deltagardata (IPD)?
JA
IPD-planbeskrivning
We will make de-identified and restricted data available to the research community through portals such as the publicly accessible Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (hosted by the University of Michigan).
We will preserve the confidentiality of study participants and protect personal health information by stripping the data of personally identifying information and purging it of all personal health information, and any information that is sufficiently fine so that it could identify individuals.
We will follow standard protocols, such as converting specific dates to relative dates or date intervals, and aggregating small cells.
This will allow us to maximize the data available to researchers while strictly preserving confidentiality and privacy.
Tidsram för IPD-delning
De-identified and confidential IPD will be made available by the on-line publication date of published research.
Kriterier för IPD Sharing Access
Access will be limited to researchers for non-commercial uses.
Users will also need to certify that no attempt will be made to re-identify participants from the de-identified data.
IPD-delning som stöder informationstyp
- SAV
- ICF
- ANALYTIC_CODE
Läkemedels- och apparatinformation, studiedokument
Studerar en amerikansk FDA-reglerad läkemedelsprodukt
Nej
Studerar en amerikansk FDA-reglerad produktprodukt
Nej
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