Half of Bankruptcy Due to Medical Bills -- U.S. Study
Wed Feb 2, 4:29 AM ET
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Half of all U.S. bankruptcies are caused by soaring medical bills and most people sent into debt by illness are middle-class workers with health insurance, researchers said on Wednesday.
The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, estimated that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans every year, if both debtors and their dependents, including about 700,000 children, are counted.
"Our study is frightening. Unless you're Bill Gates you're just one serious illness away from bankruptcy," said Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who led the study.
More at: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=2&u=/nm/health_bankruptcy_dc
===== "I'm not too worried by hegemony / I know the cadre will look after me" - Magazine, "Model Worker," 1978