http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/business/02insure.htmlSometimes, all it takes is one bad fall for a working person with health insurance to be pushed into bankruptcy. Hundreds of thousands of Americans file for personal bankruptcy each year because of medical bills - even though they have health insurance, according to a new study by Harvard University legal and medical researchers.
"It doesn't take a medical catastrophe to create a financial catastrophe," said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor who studies bankruptcy and is one of the authors of the study.
The study, which is scheduled to appear today on the Web site of Health Affairs, an academic journal, provides a glimpse into a little-researched area connecting bankruptcy and medical costs. About 30 percent of people said they filed for bankruptcy because of an illness or injury, even though most of them had health insurance when they first got sick.
Many lost their jobs - and their insurance - because they got sick, while others faced thousands of dollars in co-payments and deductibles and for services not covered by their insurance. This is really no surprise to those of us who actually stay informed, but what did jar me a bit was the fact that many of these people did have health insurance. It was the other issues: not being able to work, the copayments and caps, the necessities like physical therapy and orthopedic equipment that are not covered. This needs to be shouted from the rooftops to our congression reps as they work toward "reforming" bankruptcy laws, and is a great talking point against Repukes who think that people filing bankrupcy got there by charging fur coats and computers to credit cards. It also makes a great case for universal health care: The economy as a whole would be better off.
Some great fucking country we have here, isn't it?
:nuke:
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