http://www.healthtalk.ca/medical_bankruptcy_020505_37733.php

llness May Lead To Bankruptcy In The U.S.

February 05, 2005

The thought of getting ill and losing everything you own is frightening and a new study confirms that Americans may be just one illness away from going bankrupt.

Close to half of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are caused by illness and medical bills, researchers said this week.

The study, which appears in journal Health Affairs, estimated that personal bankruptcies, which they describe as "medical bankruptcies" affect as many as 2 million Americans every year. The frightening part of the study says many of the people had health insurance.

"Our study is frightening. Unless you're Bill Gates you're just one serious illness away from bankruptcy," said Dr. David Himmelstein, lead study author from Harvard University.

Himmelstein said most of the medically bankrupt were just average Americans who got ill. About 75 percent of the bankruptcy filers were insured when they first became ill.

For their findings, researchers looked at federal court records of 1,771 people who filed personal bankruptcy in five US states. Among these, the team conducted more indepth interviews with 931 of them.

Medical bills contributed greatly to the debt of those who filed bankruptcy. Out-of-pocket costs averaged $11,854 for those who became ill, and for those with cancer, medical debts averaged $35,878.