• Posted January 14, 2026

Medical Debt Linked To Rent and Mortgage Problems, Study Says

People burdened with medical bills may also be more likely to struggle to keep a roof over their heads, a new study finds.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health report that adults with medical debt were much more likely to face housing problems, including trouble paying rent or a mortgage, eviction or foreclosure.

The study found that people who reported medical debt in 2024 had a seven-percentage-point higher chance of housing instability in 2025. That’s a 44% higher risk compared to people without medical debt.

The findings — published Jan. 12 in JAMA Network Open — were derived from a national survey of 1,515 U.S. adults followed from 2023 through 2025. 

About 1 in 6 said they had medical debt in 2024, while 1 in 12 reported housing instability in 2025.

Renters were especially hard-hit. They made up about 40% of adults with medical debt in 2025, even though renters represent a smaller share of the overall population.

“Given what we know about the importance of housing for health, these findings suggest that for many people, receiving health care can lead to medical debt, and then to housing instability,” lead author Kyle Moon, a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins, said in a news release. “This can create a cascade of consequences, including delayed health care, that jeopardizes health.”

Medical debt remains common in the U.S., even among people with health insurance. Past research has linked medical debt to forgoing mental health care. 

This new study shows it may also threaten housing.

The research used data from the Cumulative Life Stressors Impact on Mental Health and Well Being (CLIMB) Study, a long-running survey that tracks health, finances and life stressors among U.S. adults. 

Researchers adjusted for factors such as income, savings, insurance status, age, sex and race.

“This analysis weaves together two important drivers of affordability in the United States and suggests that medical debt is linked with housing instability, which we know could have further influence on health outcomes,” senior author Catherine Ettman, an assistant professor of health policy at Johns Hopkins, said in a news release.

Researchers said they will continue studying how financial stress affects health outcomes across the U.S.

More information

The Sycamore Institute has more on how medical debt affects health.

SOURCE: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, news release, Jan. 13, 2026