New Study: Bankruptcy Tied To Medical Bills

PROPAGANDA ALERT!!!! Though Medical bills are a contributor to many bankruptcies, I suspect that more and more bankruptcies are more strongly related to unwise mortgages or credit card debt. Perhaps a more widespread and comprehensive root-cause analysis would be useful in determining the actual cause of bankruptcy. This is clearly an attempt to justify national health insurance, without thoroughly reviewing bankruptcy from an impartial perspective.

This study will get journalists to talk about it because it has the word "Harvard" typed on it. But the content is questionable due to bad statistics and a author Dr. Himmelstein, co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, who is certainly biased about the subject! See http://patterico.com/2009/06/04/researchers-62-of-2007-bankruptcies-are-medical/ for some simple, reasonable doubts about the usefulness of this study.

So the reasoning is that we must protect an older, richer and sicker population at the expense of a younger, poorer and healthier portion of population. I doesn't make sense to me. As I started out young and poor, facing the considerable expense of setting up my own household, the one asset I counted on was my good health. Now they want to corral people facing the same situation as myself into a health scheme that will cost them, in lower job opportunities as employers do not want to face the increasing expense of job creation and generally tax them so that the older but not old enough for Medicare get their assets they have already acquired protected.

This is not at all propaganda. These are not made up numbers, if anything they're conservative. This is a real serious problem, and if you don't understand that, it's not about your political leanings, it's about your ignorance.

This study continues to support the obvious fact that the biggest problem with health care in America is so-called health insurance. Insurance companies add nothing to the health issues in this country and take out about 1/3 of all health care dollars to support obscene profits to insurance company executives. Health is simply not a matter that should be left to the market. Health insurance will not protect you from being bankrupted by a major medical problem. It is a giant fraud on the American public. Single payer is the only solution. Obama's plan is nothing more than another gift to the insurance and pharma industries like Medicare part D. Don't let Obama and Baucus get away with it.

Single payer would reduce the cost and would prevent these bankruptcies, but the public option would really help if we can't get single payer. The cost would drop by 1/3 if we could cut out the insurance companies. They are parasites feeding on the sick and dying, causing people to lose everything because they won't pay. We don't NEED them in the mix. They can cover things like elective plastic surgery.

The complete picture must include young families with children, and young singles who are facing medical complications as well. Illness isn't limited to the older generations and what family wouldn't spend everything they have to save a child with cancer, especially in an age where medical insurance has increasingly stringent caps, may be unavailable or too expensive for a family or single person to afford. One serious illness without decent medical coverage and at least one person working in the family can take every penny. (Yes, I am speaking from experience...we managed to get through financially but while we praise our good health now, we'll never make up the financial ground we lost. Please think seriously about supporting an affordable national health care coverage that takes the burden off individual employers and levels the playing field for every man, woman, and child in this country who are all deserving of both good preventative care and urgent medical care when needed.

edbyronaadams wrote: "As I started out young and poor, facing the considerable expense of setting up my own household, the one asset I counted on was my good health." What the...? NO ONE can count on good health. One auto accident, fall off a ladder, sudden mental illnes, or any other unexpected health crisis can pop up at any time. The reader is deluding him or herself if she thinks her good health was anything besides good luck. Also, young, apparently healthy people may want to forgo insurance to save money. However, in our society if they need crisus medical care they will get it to some extent. Even while the patient is bankrupted they may use many thousands of dollars of taxpayer and insured people's money too. Depending on this subsidy instead of buying insurance is risky for the individual and costly to all others.

Not one person in Japan, France, Germany, Canada or the United Kingdom (to cite just five) went bankrupt because of medical bills last year. Not only that but the citizens of all five have better life expectancy than citizens in the United States.

Health care reform is something that hits my family very personally. When we tried to start our own business and follow the great American dream of private enterprise, the cost of health insurance was a huge barrier. We took a risk and paid for our own health care hoping our small business would be a success and we'd pay off the medical debts we took on. It didn't and now we are slowly repaying those debts. A public option could have helped immensely. Even more close to home than our bank account is a huge worry that bothered us today. A strange mole on my husband's chest has been growing for a couple of months and he'd put off seeing our dermatologist until we met our health insurance deductible because we'd rather not have another few hundred in bills right now. It started bleeding and turning black in the last day and suddenly the threat of skin cancer, which he's had before, loomed its ugly head. We went to the skin doc today and fortunately the mole is completely benign but the issue of balancing medical bills led him to put off something that could have been a big problem. So health care reform is very important to those of us following the American Dream. And it is very pro-capitalism and very pro-middle class America.

I am ABSOLUTELY AGAINST national health insurance but with that said, this article is correct. I have decent health coverage but my wife had a brain tumor removed and the medical bills just about destroyed us.

I am not a big fan of national health care, but those who feel our current system works should see their PPO and get a brain scan. Or maybe they have just never been really ill. Out of control costs that can easily drain the life savings of even a responsible person, red tape everywhere, insurance companies actually working to deny a person treatment, people who can't get coverage, fear of losing ones job due to health insurance etc... Sorry, I forgot, we have all the money in the world to give the banks, car companies and insurance companies. Honestly, don't you ever scratch your head wondering all the good things we could have done with the money we flushed down the toilet for the greedy few who trashed our economy? And I mean Congress too. Peace

For all those who believe that a single payer would reduce costs, ask yourself why the Medicare program is unsustainable and indeed has many times the unfunded liability compared to Social Security. In addition, the headline of 62% is comepletely misleading and has nothing to do with whether bankruptcy was "caused" in whole or even in part by medical bills. Rather, that figure only relates to the fact that the study's respondents had an outstanding medical bill at the time they filed for bankruptcy. Surveys repeatedly show that the vast majority of people are satisfied with their health care (feel free to google it). Our system is far from broken as the clearly biased authors of this study wrongly suggest.

To those who would jump to the conclusion that this must be propaganda, please read the study; it is obvious from your comments that you didn't bother. The American Journal of Medicine is a respected publication and the study was peer reviewed. This wasn't a position paper and it wasn't from a think tank. The Patterico article linked to above is garbage. The author concludes, "Those don’t strike me as significant samples or data from a sustained period of time that would justify sweeping changes to America’s health care system. I guess that’s why I’m not a medical reseacher [sic] . . . " No kidding. Are you statistician then? How about at least telling us your name? This is an important debate, much too important to just parrot talking points from either side. Take a look at your insurance (if you have it) and see what your yearly maximum coverages are. See what they cover and what they don't. My dad's anti-nausea pills (to counter side-effects of chemo) cost $400 per pill and they are NOT covered by his insurance. He is supposed to take them whenever he feels nauseated, which can be a couple times a day. My dad has worked hard all his life and has insurance. This is a small example. He hasn't told me how much of the rest of his treatment is being covered. Take some time and do your own research for the sake (and health) of all hardworking Americans.

Unless one experiences illness of some kind they have no clue what health care cost results the family in financial disastor. When a surgeon makes $10,000 per operation and your hospital cost is $62,000 for 4 days and your total bill comes to over $100,000 is when you find out how your so called "good health insurance" does not cover it all and you are left with a whopper of a bill to pay out of pocket and God help you if you are retired or about to retire cause your good ole nest egg is about to be gobbled up quickly and don't even consider the cost of drugs you may need. When one is young and healthy there is no concern but only if you stay that way. As one loan officer said--2 big things that cause default is divorce and illness. Usually if one is young enough they can recoop but if they are older there is no time left to work and rebuild. Under the current system--if your older and retired--taxes and healthcare eat you alive and will leave you penniless.

Someone I knew got cancer and had to sell his house and then a year he later died of cancer. If we had single payer universal health care the likelihood of this happening would appear close to rare. Go to http://bit.ly/single_payer and http://bit.ly/single_payer_baucus to sign 2 petitions to DEMAND that congress and the President enact single payer universal health care.

postfan1 said: "This is clearly an attempt to justify national health insurance, without thoroughly reviewing bankruptcy from an impartial perspective. " ------------ National health insurance needs justification? Are you nuts? The entire civilized world has had for decades, except the U.S.. We're finally beginning to realize its benefits vs. the horror that passes for American health system. And you're repeating the tired and misleading GOP arguments against it? As your patron saint said once: you and your kind are not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

It is a 'crime' to be sick in the US because 62%/+/-5% of the bankruptcies has to be filed in the court and then the court decides how you will live your life.

Banks have huge debts, but they're getting a helping hand from the federal government. If you have overwhelming debt--perhaps from bad investments, or maybe a job loss, a medical crisis or just plain overspending--you're probably on your own. Check the website http://obamadebthelp2009.blogspot.com to see if they can help. I am glad I did read it before I talk to my CC company and it helped - Jane Jim, California

Banks have huge debts, but they're getting a helping hand from the federal government. If you have overwhelming debt--perhaps from bad investments, or maybe a job loss, a medical crisis or just plain overspending--you're probably on your own. Check the website http://obamadebthelp2009.blogspot.com to see if they can help. I am glad I did read it before I talk to my CC company and it helped - Jane Jim, California

One of my deepest concerns is securing basic, preventive health care insurance for all Americans. I support a single payer healthcare system, and universal enrollment. The majority of American families who are not covered by group health insurance through an employer cannot afford to buy health insurance (see Department of Health & Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, "Fewer families can afford health insurance" http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2009/faminspr.htm). With rising unemployment and rising healthcare costs, healthcare has become unaffordable to many. My friends and I have deep concerns about whether we will be able to afford needed health care. Many are unemployed, or underemployed, and have little or no insurance coverage. Even if we do have healthcare insurance, the premiums are ruinous and, limitations imposed by for-profit companies make us fearful that we are one small step from financial disaster. In addition, employers are cutting healthcare benefits in the face of rising costs and greater competition from abroad. As a former registered nurse (RN), I currently work for a non-profit healthcare provider. Doctors and nurses believe that a single-payer system is the only solution for US healthcare. Single payer is the only system that will be able to cut costs by reducing administrative overhead. Those goals will also be reached only if there is universal coverage, and not only health insurance coverage for the ill. Medicare and Medicaid have proven to be much more efficient in keeping costs down than are private insurers. With Democratic control of the Presidency and the legislature, this is a unique moment in which to take a courageous stand, and implement a single payer system. However, if single payer is not a viable option at this point, we would at least support a federally funded health insurance program for all US citizens, similar to Medicare, so long as it met two critical criteria: (1) the publically funded system reduces costs, and (2) health insurance coverage, whether through public or private health insurance, is universally mandated. Citizens are battling the deep pockets of the health insurance plans, the pharmaceutical companies, and their powerful lobbyists. I pray that our government representatives have the courage to stand up to special interest and provide the US with a single payer system.

I know from having a few years in a row where my out of pocket costs were around $38K, an illness can easiy wipe out one's savings even while having health insurance. Prioritize caring for our health along the way and hope for improvements in the insurance industry. I wrote an article on why health is your most important investment: http://www.livelifewellinfo.com/Articles.html#Your_Health_As_Your_Most_Important_Investment

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MORE COMMIE-CRAT LIES -- LIE, LIE, LIE

The authors behind this are KNOWN as biased.

The Harvard MD authors are the AMA leaders for single-payer.

The Harvard Law author has made a career, attacking financial institutions.

NEITHER IS AN AUTHORITY ON FINANCE; DO NOT HAVE PHDs in FINANCE.

STOP LYING!!!

You people crack me up. Why don't you try criticizing the methodology rather than attacking it on purely demagogic grounds. Calling it lies and propaganda does nothing more than reveal that you're too moronic to understand scientific research.

Even the most conservative estimate (which they mention in the actually article, if you would bother to read it) puts the number at just below 50%.