Are medical costs the leading cause of U.S. bankruptcies?

– This story and the one before it both illustrate what is so very wrong with the fact that the U.S. is the only industrialized western nation without universal health care.   And why?  Because corporate interests have captured our system and they are not about to forego their immense profits for the benefit of mere people.

– Read this to see how it could be:

– And read these to see the ways things are going very very wrong: and

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At least 62 percent of all U.S. family bankruptcies result from medical expenses, reports a study released yesterday in The American Journal of Medicine—an increase from the 46 percent the reseachers found in 2001.

Analyzing data from 2,314 randomly selected 2007 (pre-mortgage-meltdown) bankruptcy filings revealed that most of those who had claimed bankruptcy because of medical expenses had health insurance, owned homes, were in their mid-40s and had middle class incomes.

High out-of-pocket expenses for those already insured and the loss of private insurance were the primary reasons for medical bankruptcy, report the study authors—many of whom are active members of Physicians for a National Health Program, a group that advocates for a single-payer system.

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