Medical bills led to two-thirds of bankruptcies in 2007, study finds

[seafan]

Medical bills led to two-thirds of bankruptcies in 2007, study finds

By Melissa Healy
June 4, 2009

Nearly two-thirds of those filing for bankruptcy protection in 2007 cite illness and medical bills as having contributed to their financial failure, reports a study published in the American Journal of Medicine. And 77.9% of those bankrupted at least in part by illness and its expenses had private insurance at the beginning of their medical odyssey.

The study, based on a survey of a random sample of 2,314 bankruptcy filings during early 2007, was conducted by researchers from Harvard University's Law and Medical Schools and Ohio University, under a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The researchers then conducted extensive telephone interviews with 1,032 of those filers to detail how illness and medical expenses contributed to their bankruptcy status. Four in 10 of the "medically bankrupt" had lost two or more weeks of wages due to their own or a family member's illness, roughly 35% had spent more than $5,000 or 10% of their annual income in out-of-pocket medical bills, and 43% specifically cited their own or a family member's illness as a reason for filing for bankruptcy.

Two of the four authors of the study, Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. David Himmelstein and Cambridge, Mass., physician Steffie Woolhandler, are co-founders of the group Physicians for a National Health Program. Citing the study's findings, Himmelstein called private insurance "a defective product, akin to an umbrella that melts in the rain." Woolhandler said the findings demonstrated that in the current debate about healthcare reform, proposals to "expand phony insurance -- stripped-down plans riddled with co-payments, deductibles and exclusions -- won't stem the rising tide of medical bankruptcy."

The study follows a 2005 study by the same researchers, who found that between 2001 and 2007, the proportion of all bankruptcies that could be attributed to medical problems rose by 49.6%. While Congress has in the meantime tightened the criteria for those who may file for bankruptcy, the stalled economy has propelled bankruptcies back up to the levels of 2001 -- roughly 1.5 million annually. The data reflected in the current study were collected before the economy had fallen to its lowest levels.

Two-third of those who were termed medically bankrupt were homeowners. Three-fifths had gone to college. In many cases, the researchers found, illness was followed by time lost from work, leading the filer to lose his or her job and, with it, health insurance coverage.

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Baucus Tells Single-Payer Advocates No, June 3, 2009



Obama urges Senate Democrats to settle healthcare issues, June 3, 2009:

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But in the last several days, differences have emerged between the two main architects of the healthcare legislation in the Senate, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Max Baucus of Montana.

Kennedy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, is leaning toward creating a widely available Medicare-style public insurance option. But Baucus, the Finance Committee chairman, strongly favors a bipartisan solution - and Republicans consider Kennedy's public plan an intolerable threat to the private insurance industry.

The White House and Baucus have also disagreed how the bill should be financed. Baucus wants to tax a portion of healthcare benefits provided by employers - an approach Obama campaigned against. After meeting with Obama, Baucus told reporters the president suggested he was open to reconsidering - but the White House later said he was not.

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The President Spells Out His Vision on Health Care Reform, June 3, 2009:

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None of these plans should deny coverage on the basis of a preexisting condition, and all of these plans should include an affordable basic benefit package that includes prevention, and protection against catastrophic costs. I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest.

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Man your positions, people, because there's a major battle on the horizon.

[Hannah Bell]

1. you mean it wasn't from buying wide-screen tv's & suv's? wotta shocker.