Healthcare workers may carry higher educational and medical debt than workers in other professions, and nursing home and home health workers are among those with the highest debt, according to a study published Friday in the JAMA Health Forum.
“Extensive training requirements may lead to high student debt among some healthcare workers, while nonprofessional health workers may be at risk for medical debt due to low wages and poor benefits,” wrote authors Kathryn E. W. Himmelstein, MD, MSEd, and Alexander C. Tsai, MD, both affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
According to the study, medical debt is greater among home health and nursing home staff members, women, uninsured individuals and those recently hospitalized.
Collectively, healthcare workers are more likely than other workers to carry medical and educational debt, owing more than $150 billion altogether.
Data show that 19.7% of nursing home workers and 21.8% of home healthcare workers carry medical debt. Nursing home workers’ mean medical debt amounted to $2,639; for home health workers, it was $1,808.
Mean educational debt among all healthcare workers was $10,642. For nursing home workers, the mean was $6,375, and it was $5,154 for home healthcare workers.
“Educational debts disproportionately burdened Black workers and younger workers and those with higher education,” the authors said.
Carrying educational and medical debt can have a profound effect on healthcare workers by limiting their career mobility and discouraging newcomers from entering the field, according to Himmelstein and Tsai.
The authors also noted that many hospitals are known for aggressive debt collection actions, including suing their own employees.
“Healthcare workers indebted to their employers may be less able to address patient safety concerns or protect themselves from workplace abuses,” according to the authors.
See additional coverage of the study here.
