Table 2.
Prevalence of Health Care Unaffordability Overall and by Postpartum and Urban-Rural Status, National Health Interview Survey 2019–2021
| Variables | Overall | Postpartum Status | Urban-Rural Residence | Postpartum and Urban-Rural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health Care Unaffordability Measures | Overall Prevalence (n=17,800) | Non- Postpartum (n=16,503) | Postpartum (n=1,088) | p-value | Urban (n=15,633) | Rural (n=2,167) | p-value | Postpartum + Urban (n=925) | Postpartum + Rural (n=163) | p-value |
| Unable to Pay Medical Bills | 9.34 | 9.18 | 11.87 | <.001 | 8.93 | 12.43 | <0.01 | 10.99 | 13.64 | 0.74 |
| Problems Paying Medical Bills | 14.21 | 14.06 | 16.92 | <.001 | 13.67 | 18.33 | <0.01 | 16.09 | 16.37 | 0.93 |
| Worried About Paying Medical Bills | 52.62 | 52.80 | 52.16 | <.001 | 52.70 | 52.01 | 0.93 | 50.64 | 48.76 | 0.85 |
Notes: Sample includes female respondents ages 18–44 years. Weighted proportions presented using NHIS survey weights. Survey weighted chi-squared tests used to test for bivariate differences.