Guardian: 3% Of Critical Illness Survivors Have $25,000 Credit Card Bills

A significant percentage of U.S. residents who suffer from critical illnesses end up charging large amounts of medical expenses and recovery-related expenses.

About 7% of U.S. residents who have suffered from critical illnesses, or have suffered through a spouse’s critical illness, said they accumulated more than $5,000 in credit card debt as a result of the illness, and 3% said they accumulated more than $25,000 in credit card debt in connection with the illness, according to researchers at Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York.

The researchers have published those figures in a summary of results from a survey of 1,000 U.S. residents ages 1,000 and older.