Most American Bankruptcies Include Extreme Medical Expenses

[Segami]

“Unless you’re Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy,” said Dr. David Himmelstein, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He described the situation as “frightening” in a news release issued by the Physicians for a National Health Program. Himmelstein is lead author of a study to be published in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Medicine but the report can be found online now.

The study, conducted by researchers at Harvard’s medical and law schools, as well as researchers at Ohio University, found that, in 2007, two-thirds of all bankruptcies in the US involved medical expenses and related issues. When compared to bankruptcies in 2001, the presence of medical issues in bankruptcies jumped by almost 50%. Other findings include:

■77.9% of all American families bankrupted by medical expenses were covered by medical insurance at the onset of the medical crisis leading to bankruptcy.

■60% of those were insured by private insurers.

■Most families were “solidly middle class” before financial disaster occurred.

■Two-thirds of the adults filing for bankruptcies that included medical expenses owned their homes.

■Three-fifths of them enjoyed a college education.

■Even well-insured filers listed out-of-pocket medical expenses, including deductibles, co-payments, and uncovered services in amounts too high to cope with.

■The average bankrupt family with private medical insurance identified $17,749 in unpaid medical expenses.

■The average bankrupt family with no medical insurance coverage listed $26,971 in unpaid medical expenses.

■The average bankrupt family with private insurance coverage at the beginning of the illness but lost it during the struggle had $22,568 in unpaid medical expenses.

■Bankruptcy filings due to medical expenses were highest for those suffering from neurological disorders ($34,167, on average) and diabetes ($26,971).

■The single biggest expense for about 50% of all families filing for bankruptcy was hospital bills.

■Prescription drugs accounted for the largest single expense for 18.5% of bankruptcy filers.

The research team says it is important to note their study involves bankruptcies filed in 2007, before the current economic crisis began. The percentage of bankruptcies and unsustainable medical expenses are likely to increase dramatically for more recent years.

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a primary care physician and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, says discussion of medical reform needs to go further than merely covering the uninsured. Illness often strikes a family’s breadwinner and brings unemployment as a result. When jobs are lost, so, in most cases, is medical insurance coverage although this is exactly when it’s needed the most. Woolhandler is a co-author of the study.


<http://medheadlines.com/2009/06/04/most-american-bankruptcies-include-extreme-medical-expenses/>


<http://pnhp.org/new_bankruptcy_study/>

[Cass]

1. These are frightening statistics.

Our elected reresentatives MUST bring about real health care reform, not some half-baked plan that favors the insurance companies.

K & R

[Segami]

3. I wonder how many people today are homeless or contemplating suicide because of spiraling

health care costs? These are real lives that are being affected, NOT just statistical numbers. For some politicians, it always seems to be an easy position for them to just stand their in their corporate shadow & shake their heads silly while watching people drink dirty, polluted water saying how sad it is while they drink fresh, clean, bottled spring water.

[sharesunited]

2. National health helps the financial condition of employers too.

A business expense shifted to the commonwealth like streets and highways are regarded to be a public amenity.

[Segami]

5. Unfortunately, nobody is listening to any such reasoning. The scare machine is alive and well.

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. Sadly I do not find these numbers surprising at all.

Shameful indeed. Not surprising.

[Segami]

8. Words like " Shameful " doesn't exist within their vocabulary. Maybe we should try words or phrases

like " vote you out of office, we'll remember you on election day, can you spell primary? ".

[1776Forever]

6. We were one of those statistics - Yesterday on Ed Schultz someone called in & complained

about the Health Care Plan being proposed. They said they had a good business and they didn't have any problems - little do they know! Anyone who is a citizen of this country and believes they have no issues to worry about if they have "health insurance" is living in never-never land! These HMO bastards will take you and throw you or a loved away without blinking an eye! It is ALL about the MONEY!

I don't wish anyone to go through what we had to with a son who has Progressive MS and had to wait 3 years to get care and now has his brain and kidneys atrophying! No one in this country of ours should ever have to deal with this kind of horrific and destructive behavior against they fellow citizen! Shame be on their house!

:argh:

[Segami]

7. I'm sorry to hear of your situation with your son. When will those we elected stop and begin

listening to the ills of the very citizens who put them into office to be their champion representative on all issues?

[1776Forever]

9. After listening to the President's press conference today I am a little encouraged.

We will just have to keep pushing for quality health care for all! Thank you for all you do!

:grouphug:

[MrsCorleone]

10. There's no fucking way big pharma & insurance companies are

going to let us have a "comprehensive" public option. The health industry generates trillions with a "T" dollars. There's no way in hell that they'd let those fat profits go. No fucking way.

Unless, of course, there is M A S S I V E anger and protest directed at our congress critters.

Each of us has 2 senators and 1 representative. Just 3 phone calls (emails are generally ignored). Better yet, fax them. Nothing more frightening to a congress critter coming up for election than a pile of angry letters.

[TexasObserver]

11. And most of those bankrupt debtors HAD health coverage.

[Horse with no Name]

12. Frightening isn't it?

Imagine ALL the people who were bankrupt that did NOT have insurance who were too beaten down to care about filing for bankruptcy and have since fallen through the cracks--the silent sufferers. I would imagine that number would be staggering.

[TexasObserver]

13. That's true. So many don't even make enough or own enough to justify bankruptcy.

The chronically poor in this country are not the ones who file bankruptcy. People who have something, who make a decent income, who own things file for bankruptcy to protect their right to keep secured assets, or to wipe out unsecured debt too large to cover.

There is this marketing theme by lenders that most of bankruptcy is due to irresponsible consumers, and certainly some of it is, but the majority are caused by medical bills, pure and simple.

[Flying Dream Blues]

14. K&R...everyone needs to be reminded of the toll our poor system exacts on families

as well as the economy.