Iranians turn to debt as healthcare costs outpace incomes

A growing number of Iranians are borrowing money, delaying treatment and bargaining over medical bills as healthcare costs exceed household incomes, according to an Eghtesad Online report cited by Iran International, highlighting widening pressure on patients as officials say medical supplies for the Arbaeen pilgrimage are fully secured.

The report said treatment increasingly begins with offers to activate credit, pay in installments or use discount codes rather than with a doctor’s diagnosis. Households are financing dental care, physiotherapy, psychotherapy, prescription drugs and online consultations with future income, while patients ask at reception desks: “Is this charged at the private rate? Doesn’t insurance cover it? Can’t you charge a little less?”

Long-term care is especially vulnerable, the report said, with patients stopping physiotherapy midway, discontinuing psychotherapy after only a few sessions or rationing medication. It said healthcare accounted for 8.7% of urban household spending and 9.8% of rural household spending in 2024, the latest available figures, while current-year official data have not yet been released.

The financial pressure comes alongside warnings over medicine shortages. Salman Es’haqi, spokesperson for parliament’s Health and Treatment Committee, called shortages “serious and critical,” citing sanctions, the recent war and disruptions to imports of pharmaceutical raw materials, while other lawmakers pointed to foreign currency delays and cash shortages affecting imports.