Medical bills pave way to poorhouse, study says

[EC]

Medical bills pave way to poorhouse, study says
Many bankruptcies linked to illness

By Bonnie Miller Rubin
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 2, 2005


Medical bills may lurk behind about half of personal bankruptcy filings in the United States, according to Harvard University researchers who also found a majority of the debtors they surveyed were middle-class, owned homes and had health insurance at the onset of their illness.

The study, to be published Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs, examined personal bankruptcy filings from 2001 in five federal court districts, including Illinois.

"Our study is fairly shocking," said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a primary-care physician. "We found that, too often, private health insurance is an umbrella that melts in the rain."

For many, health problems set in motion a downward spiral that led to unemployment and subsequently the loss of health insurance, Woolhandler said. Or, their coverage was filled with so many high co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services that they couldn't pay their bills. Out-of-pocket expenses averaged $11,854 for the medically bankrupt.

more> http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0502020284feb02,1,2955681.story?coll=chi-business-hed

[SHRED]

1. This is the real 'crisis'!

God damn Bu$h to hell for not dealing with it!

[Pithlet]

2. Not only is he not dealing with it

But he's going to make it worse by shifting health coverage away from employers and making people "responsible" for their own healthcare.

[SHRED]

4. Excellent point!

:toast:

[slor]

3. Yep...it is the "ownership society"...

and we OWN all of the problems this idiot is creating!

[KissMeKate]

5. canadians dont have to worry about their health insurance dissapearing.

neither do many europeans.

[MISSDem]

6. This is why it is absolutely necessary

to have set aside money to cover 6 months of bills and also to have disability insurance coverage.

[Digit]

9. That assumes there IS money to set aside....

I see all over people who live paycheck to paycheck.
Their vehicles are older, they don't go out to dinner.
They don't buy the latest fashions.
They don't go on vacations.
They have NO health insurance.
There is nothing left after paying for the roof over their heads, the insurance on their home & car, and utilities.
I guess people with money cannot imagine what this is like.

[bloom]

7. Seems like the plan must be healthcare for the rich

and let everyone else be #$%@^&#.

[stevebreeze]

8. it just goes to show how extremely bad our current system is

Health care costs are keeping employment down. Health care access is why many people do not take a chance on starting their own business. We need single payer and we need it now!