From the Hospital Room to Bankruptcy Court

[babylonsister]

From the Hospital Room to Bankruptcy Court

By KEVIN SACK
Published: November 24, 2009

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Although statistics are elusive, there is a general sense among bankruptcy lawyers and court officials, in Nashville as elsewhere, that the share of personal bankruptcies caused by illness is growing.

In the campaign to broaden support for the overhaul of American health care, few arguments have packed as much rhetorical punch as the there-but-for-the-grace-of-God notion that average families, through no fault of their own, are going bankrupt because of medical debt.

President Obama, in addressing a joint session of Congress in September, called on lawmakers to protect those “who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy.” He added: “These are not primarily people on welfare. These are middle-class Americans.”

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, made a similar case on Saturday in a floor speech calling for passage of a measure to open debate on his chamber’s health care bill.

The legislation moving through Congress would attack the problem in numerous ways.

Bills in both houses would expand eligibility for Medicaid and provide health insurance subsidies for those making up to four times the federal poverty level. Insurers would be prohibited from denying coverage to those with pre-existing health conditions. Out-of-pocket medical costs would be capped annually.

How many personal bankruptcies might be avoided is unpredictable, as it is not clear how often medical debt plays a back-breaking role. There were 1.1 million personal bankruptcy filings in 2008, including 12,500 in Nashville, and more are expected this year.

Last summer, Harvard researchers published a headline-grabbing paper that concluded that illness or medical bills contributed to 62 percent of bankruptcies in 2007, up from about half in 2001. More than three-fourths of those with medical debt had health insurance.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/health/policy/25bankruptcy.html?_r=1&hp

[annabanana]

1. The more real information that gets out about the costs of the

"status quo", the stronger our case grows. And the more craven & cruel our opponents are revealed to be.

Only the very richest, most cosseted Americans have not had or do not know someone who has had issues with a health insurance company. The degree of their isolation is highlighted with every story that hits the big time.

[babylonsister]

2. Too bad the people who really need to read and understand this

will never open a copy of the NYT, and the richest, most cosseted don't seem to care.