Falling behind: The role of student loans on forgoing healthcare

An area for concern in public health research is the extent to which USA student loans are associated with poor health. This study's objective examines whether falling behind on student loans may compound ill‐health by deterring people from seeking healthcare. The results of this study confirm that borrowers behind or in collections on student loans are forgoing healthcare after self‐reporting general physical ill‐health. This study used the 2019 Survey of Household Economics and Decision‐making (SHED) questionnaire that measures the economic well‐being of USA households. There were 337 participants behind or in collections on student loans. The size effects for forgoing mental healthcare and seeing a specialist were observed. Respondents behind on student loans were more likely to forgo mental healthcare (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18, 2.33) and seeing a doctor/specialist (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.13, 2.07) even when controlling for sociodemographic variables, health insurance, childcare and eldercare payments, and medical debt. The implications for enlarging access to healthcare among people behind on student loans are discussed.