Medical Bankruptcy

Grrr

I was trying to track down the source on that figure, because it seems hard to believe... my brain said "Every 30 seconds? That can't possibly be true! That's too horrible to be true!"

But apparently this is not a new figure -- it's mentioned in a 2005 Washington Post article. And factcheck.org says that one bankruptcy every 30 seconds isn't the right figure: "He said the high cost of health care "causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds." That’s at least double the true figure."

Washington Post op ed on medical bankruptcy from 2005
Fact-checking Obama's speech

I also wrote recently about a study on the connection between medical bills and bankruptcy (for one of my freelancing clients) -- and it's mind-boggling how many people with health insurance still end up owing buckets of money. Even if you do have health insurance, you're still not "safe". My parents think that having health insurance is the be-all-end-all of being safe/secure/covered/whatever you want to call it. But it's not.

"He said the high cost of health care "causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds." That’s at least double the true figure."

So, it's 1 every minute? Still outrageously high!

We had to file bankruptcy because we used, and maxed out, the credit cards to pay for the extra medical charges from everyone "involved" in the care of sordak and me during our operations. All five operations happened within the space of three years. Medical 'corporations'* are very pushy about demanding payment even if you have to starve and live out of a cardboard box while paying them.

These numbers do not surprise me. At the time of our operations I had very decent insurance, but then you are limited by only being 'allowed' so much over a lifetime and/or per year. I would venture that the numbers may be higher because of situations like ours - use the credit cards to pay the medical stuff insurance does not cover which means that when you do file it goes under a credit card bankruptcy rather than a medical bankruptcy.

*I would not be surprised if we were billed for the janitorial services in both the operating theater and the recovery rooms. Going through the EOBs is confusing at best.

We'd be broke as feck if we'd had to pay for the husband's head tumour. Which is, like, never-actually-going-to-go-away, so we'd be broke FOREVER trying to pay for his surgeries and checkups. I can't believe people think that free healthcare is evil. :(

I have had to declare bankruptcy due to medical bills.

I was covered by insurance. It was when I was first diagnosed with fibro, and was getting test after test after test to try and figure out what the heck was wrong with me. I maxed out a credit card paying for copays and medicine, and tests.

Then, I ended up out of work for six months because of the illness. It was horrible. I would not wish it on anyone.

I saw a program on PBS about countries where everyone is covered under a govt program and NO ONE in those countries goes bankrupt due to med bills, NO ONE! (Germany, Switzerland, Japan were just a few of the countries)

The one thing that all those countries with health coverage for all is that the health insurance companies ALL have to be non-profit. They did other stuff in different ways, but that was the one thing they had in common.

In order to get coverage here in the US and have it that no one goes bankrupt due to health costs, we also most likely will have to take that step...regardless of the outroar and lobbying by the big health care companies. Until then...no bandaid will be be enough to fix it.

One advocate for health care reform started that most families are but one serious illness away from bankruptcy, and that includes those WITH health insurance.