Lexington Law Reveals: Medical Bills Cause American’s to Lose Sleep Nationwide
Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) April 02, 2014 -- A new survey sponsored by Lexington Law sheds light on some revealing facts about the fear, insecurities and worries that keep Americans up at night. Nearly one-fourth of Americans (23%) have lost sleep over a money issue, and worrying about medical bills (12%) leads the list of money issues that keep Americans up at night. The study also reveals that a quarter of those who would be deterred from checking their credit reports attribute this deterrence to fear of what they will see (25%) and three in ten attribute it to being too busy to deal with it (29%). As the nation’s leading credit report repair service, Lexington Law encourages Americans to check their credit reports and stands ready to help address the hardships of medical bills. This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Lexington Law in March among 2,037 adults ages 18 and older.
When asked which money issues keep them up at night, just over 1 in 10 U.S. adults identify worrying about medicals bills (12%). Those with household incomes of less than $75k (15%) are more likely to cite worry about medical bills as a money issue keeping them up at night than their higher-earning counterparts (just 6% of those with household incomes of over $100k).
Other money issues that keep Americans up at night are student loans (9%), identity theft (7%) and income issues resulting from divorce (3%).
A few other interesting highlights from the survey include:
• Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults (23%) have experienced lost sleep over a money issue (e.g., not being able to pay bills).
• Women (25%) are more likely to have lost sleep over a money issue than men (20%).
• Adults age 35-44 (14%) are more likely to be kept up at night worrying about identity theft than those between the ages of 18-34 (7%), 45-54 (9%) or 55+ (4%).
• One in five (20%) say it has been over a year since they last checked their credit report.
• 13% can’t remember the last time they checked their credit report.
• 15% of U.S. adults say they have not answered a phone call because they were afraid it was a creditor or collector.
• 14% of U.S. adults have worried about their credit (e.g., that there were inaccuracies in their credit report). Younger adults between the ages of 18-44 (21%) are more than twice as likely as older adults (9% of adults age 45+) to have experienced concern about their credit.
• 13% of U.S. adults say there are times they don’t want to open a bill because they are afraid they cannot pay it.
Another disconcerting fact that emerged from the survey is that one in ten (10%) Americans believe there could be mistakes on their credit report which would affect their credit score, and 7% don’t think there is anything they can do to repair their credit score.
Lexington Law’s Directing Attorney, John Heath, states, “What we’ve learned from years of working with people who need assistance with credit report repair, and what this survey confirms, is that many personal finance issues don’t get the attention they deserve, out of fear and a misunderstanding of how consumer credit works.”
Celeste Edmunds, Director of Public Relations & Community Affairs, Lexington Law, http://www.lexingtonlaw.com/, +1 8016579088, [email protected]
Share this article