Older Women Significantly More Worried About Bankruptcy From Medical Bills Than Men

Older women are significantly more concerned about the impact of taking care of their physical health will have on their financial health, according to a new survey from MedicareGuide.com, an insurance company.

In a poll, over half of women over 65 (51 percent) say they are worried a health situation could lead to bankruptcy compared to 40 percent for men.

The number of seniors in both groups very or somewhat concerned about their ability to pay healthcare costs rises to 61 percent for women and 52 percent for men.

The fear of health costs on their budgets led 28 percent of elderly women to defer medical treatments compared to 24 percent of men.

To pay the health expenses, nearly a third of women (32 percent) told the pollster they had foregone purchases including food, big-ticket purchases and home repair versus close to a quarter (23 percent) of men.

In terms of money saved for healthcare, 28 percent of women in that age bracket have more than $6.000 compared to 41 percent of men while 21 percent of woman have no savings for medical expenses while only 11 percent of males say they have no funds set aside for that purpose.

Nearly a quarter of the women seniors (24 percent) told the researchers health insurance is their top expense while insurance was number one for 19 percent of their male peers.

While 10 percent of women reporter doctor bills their highest medical cost, 13 percent of men said inpatient hospital bills were the top expense.

Both genders, though, rated long-term care as their number one expense at 24 percent for each group.

The poll noted 22 percent percent of older women rank dentist bills as their largest healthcare expense compared to 14 percent of men.

The results are based on a survey of 1,176 people 65+ from September 1 to 16.