Medical Bankruptcies by Country 2026
Bankruptcies Caused by Medical Expenses
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
4 Countries with the Most Medical Bankruptcies
Country | Bankruptcies Caused by Medical Expenses↓ | Out-of-Pocket % of Health Expenditure 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | United States | 66.5% | |
 | Canada | 19% | 15.3% |
 | Australia | 10% | |
 | United Kingdom | 8.2% | 13.82% |
 | Philippines | 44.36% | |
 | Germany | 11.28% | |
 | Italy | 23.07% | |
 | Colombia | 14.62% | |
 | South Korea | 30.26% | |
 | Poland | 16.19% | |
 | Chile | 35.04% | |
 | Sweden | 12.68% | |
 | Czechia | 14.07% | |
 | Portugal | 29.76% | |
 | Hungary | 28.52% | |
 | Austria | 16.14% | |
 | Denmark | 13.84% | |
 | Lithuania | 31.83% | |
 | Slovenia | 12.92% | |
 | Fiji | 8.31% | |
 | Luxembourg | 8.71% | |
 | Iceland | 14.38% | |
 | Andorra | 10.98% |
- Medical bankruptcy is notably rare in most countries in the world, though the reasons for this rarity can vary:
- Most developed countries have universal/single-payer health care systems in which patient costs are minimal.
- Most countries without universal health care also lack the US requirement that medical services be rendered before payment. Thus, individuals may go without medical care, but they do not go into debt paying for procedures they have already had.
- Medical costs are much lower in most countries.
- Some developing countries lack proper medical frameworks, so both bills and opportunities for care are greatly diminished.
Snapshot
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Comparable estimates of medical-bankruptcy-related filings are available for only a small number of countries, primarily within the Anglosphere.
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Among these countries, the United States stands out, with about 66.5% of bankruptcies linked to medical expenses.
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Canada (19%), Australia (10%), and the United Kingdom (8.2%) report substantially lower shares of bankruptcies attributed to medical costs.
Medical Bankruptcy Definition Variance There is no single definition of medical bankruptcy; studies vary in whether they count medical bills, illness-related work loss, or both.
Out-of-Pocket Health Spending Share The percentage of total health expenditure paid directly by households rather than by insurers or government programs.
Medical bankruptcies occur when consumers are forced to declare bankruptcy due to the cost of medical treatment. In a 2009 study of all bankruptcies in 2007, researchers classified a “medical bankruptcy” as one where persons had mortgaged a home to pay medical bills, had medical bills greater than $1,000, or had lost at least two weeks of work due to illness. According to that definition, 66.5 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States were “medical bankruptcies.”
A 2015 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that medical bills caused 1 million U.S. adults to declare bankruptcy every year and that 26 percent of Americans aged 18 to 64 struggled to pay medical bills. The most common cause of medical debt, according to this study, was an unexpected refusal by insurance companies to pay for a medical procedure.
As it turns out, medical-bankruptcy-related filings appear to be far more common in the United States than in other countries where comparable data is available. In many high-income countries, healthcare is largely covered through public programs or social insurance, which helps cushion families from sudden medical bills—even though out-of-pocket costs still exist. As a result, medical expenses abroad are more likely to strain household budgets or delay care than push people into formal bankruptcy.
Sources
- Medical Bankruptcy: Still Common Despite the Affordable Care Act - National Library of Medicine
- Filing Bankruptcy Due To Medical Bills - Bankruptcy Advisory Centre
- This is the real reason most Americans file for bankruptcy - CNBC
- Medical Bankruptcies Statistics - Balancing Everything
- What Are The Causes of Bankruptcy in Canada? - Hoyes Michalos
- Out-of-pocket expenditure (% of current health expenditure) - World Bank
