DE Forum: More and more medical bills paid on credit (banking industry wins again)

[cyberpj]

Let's all be sure to thank Joe Biden and Tom Carper (I don't know about Castle) for their support of last year's consumer bashing bankruptcy bill that continues to abuse the working class. I don't care if the banking industry IS Delaware's largest employer, the senators voted for corporations over constituents and that's not who they're supposed to represent. The article also implies that medical companies will now start offering their own credit cards!!


More and more medical bills paid on credit
Practice good for banking industry, not so good for consumers
By LESLIE A. PAPPAS, The News Journal
Posted Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Americans struggling with soaring health care costs are increasingly paying with credit cards, according to a report released Tuesday. Delaware's credit card industry, which employs about 15,400 people, stands to benefit from the rising health care and medical costs, mainly in the form of penalties for late payments.

snip...
"Over the past six years, health insurance premiums have increased by 73.8 percent while median income has grown by only 11.6 percent. A family health insurance policy is now equivalent to 18 percent of median family income, up from 8 percent in 1987."

The banking industry does not report how much credit card debt is due to medical expenses, said Tracey Mills of the American Bankers Association. But medical costs are one of the top three reasons people go into bankruptcy, Mills said.

snip...
Report co-author Cindy Zeldin said credit card debt could increase as financial service companies market an increasing array of health care products, including medical credit cards and lines of credit.

"The credit industry is viewing this as a potentially lucrative segment to add to their portfolio," said Zeldin, director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos, a New York-based research and policy group.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070117/BUSINESS/301170015/1003/NEWS