Low-income residents and families in Utah are being seriously hit by increasingly expensive healthcare and food prices, it has been claimed.

While the spiraling costs have had an impact on all, a survey of low-income Utah residents in April and May by the Crossroad Urban Center's Anti-Hunger Action Committee advocacy group showed that the poorest citizens are being forced into even deeper personal debt.

The survey found that 70 per cent had missed meals or gone to emergency food pantries in the last 12 months in order to pay for healthcare, while 71 per cent were avoiding medical treatment altogether, reports the Deseret News.

Pay day loans are becoming an increasingly popular solution, with over a quarter of Utah residents reporting using the loans to pay for medical bills.

Healthcare debt in the US is becoming commonplace, with two-thirds of patients who paid a ten per cent premium on their earnings still having to take on additional borrowing to cover medical costs, according to the Commonwealth Fund's Biennial Health Insurance Survey.

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