As credit card balances hit a record high, medical bills can become 'shadow debt,' expert says

Total household debt rose $334 billion in the third quarter, to $19.1 trillion, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York . That total doesn't include medical debt — at least, not directly. An estimated $220 billion in medical debt exists, according to an analysis of 2021 federal survey data by KFF, a national nonprofit healthcare research group. But medical expenses can become hard-to-track "shadow" debt if consumers pay them with a credit card or other forms of borrowing , said Jim Triggs, the CEO of Money Management International, a nonprofit credit counseling organization.