|
 About
half of all bankruptcies in 2001 were the result of medical problems
and, surprisingly, most of those (more than three-quarters) who
went bankrupt were covered by health insurance at the start of the
illness.
Medically related bankruptcies involved some 700,000 U.S. households
in 2001. When all of those affected were added up -- some 700,000
children and 600,000 spouses, elderly parents and other dependents -- the
number of people reached more than 2 million annually.
Often, the bankrupting illness led to job loss and therefore a
loss of health insurance. As a result, one-third of those with private
insurance lost coverage by the time of bankruptcy.
In the study, the first to study medically related bankruptcy,
researchers administered questionnaires to 1,771 bankruptcy filers,
of whom 931 were questioned in greater detail about their financial
and medical circumstances.
It was found that illness and medical bills contributed to at least
46.2 percent, but perhaps as many as 54.5 percent, of all bankruptcy
filings.
On average, out-of-pocket medical costs reached $13,460 for those
with private insurance and $10,893 for those with no insurance.
Ironically, those with the highest costs, on average about $18,000,
were people who initially had private health insurance but lost
it after becoming ill.
To get an idea of the scope of the problem, the authors noted that
many families went bankrupt from medical expenses well below the
"catastrophic thresholds" of many high-deductible insurance
plans, and that their own medical coverage from Harvard even leaves
them at risk of having to pay medical costs above those that led
many families to bankruptcy.
The researchers went on to say that rethinking health reform is
necessary. Health insurance offered little protection for families
when a serious illness brought on co-payments, deductibles and bills
for uncovered items like physical therapy and prescription drugs.
Bankruptcy was often the last resort for families to get their lives
back on track.
Health
Affairs February 2, 2005 (Free Full-Text Article)
Magic
City Morning Star February 1, 2005
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