Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com
Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in six years. More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts. These findings were reported by a research team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University and published in the American Journal of Medicine.
The researchers wrote that 62 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical and 92 percent of these medical debtors had debts totalling more than $5,000. The research study was paid for by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The share of bankruptcies blamed on medical problems rose by 50 percent from 2001 to 2007.
“Among common diagnoses, nonstroke neurologic illnesses such as multiple sclerosis were associated with the highest out-of-pocket expense, followed by diabetes, injuries, stroke, mental illnesses and heart disease.