Jim Triggs: Medical Bills Can Become ‘Shadow Debt’ as Credit Card Balances Hit Record High

According to CNBC, U.S. credit card debt reached a record $1.29 trillion in the third quarter, while total household debt rose $334 billion to $19.1 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That household debt total does not directly include medical debt, which KFF estimated at $220 billion based on 2021 federal survey data. Jim Triggs, CEO of Money Management International, said medical expenses financed with credit cards or other borrowing become classified as those types of debt, making medical debt harder to track. In 2025, 20% of the organization’s debt and budget counseling clients cited medical hardship as the reason they went into debt. Separately, about 17% of households surveyed in 2024 said they still owed money on a loan or credit card used to pay a medical bill, according to a 2025 study by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau researchers.