UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research today released a study showing that 2.2 million Californians -- that's more than one in eight non-elderly adults -- face medical debts.
And two-thirds of them have insurance coverage.
"Individuals with medical debt are twice as likely as those without debt to delay or forgo needed health care," the center said, citing the statistic as evidence of the "glaring inadequacy" of the current health insurance system.
More than half of those with medical debts reported hardships, ranging from being unable to pay credit card bills to full-blown bankruptcy.
Also: the survey was done in 2007, before the current recession really started hitting home.
