Who Became Financially Vulnerable After COVID-19? A Population-Level Machine Learning Analysis Using MEPS Data

arXiv:2607.15446v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: The cost of healthcare remains a concern in the United States and may have been influenced by disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines healthcare financial vulnerability before and after the pandemic using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data from 2019 and 2021. High financial burden was defined as out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures exceeding 10% of family income. Survey-weighted subgroup analyses were perfo...