The Anatomy of a Ripoff. (Or why "health care" costs are so high)

[rfranklin]

10. People with insurance go bankrupt after significant medical emergencies...

Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies

June 05, 2009|By Theresa Tamkins

This year, an estimated 1.5 million Americans will declare bankruptcy. Many people may chalk up that misfortune to overspending or a lavish lifestyle, but a new study suggests that more than 60 percent of people who go bankrupt are actually capsized by medical bills.

Bankruptcies due to medical bills increased by nearly 50 percent in a six-year period, from 46 percent in 2001 to 62 percent in 2007, and most of those who filed for bankruptcy were middle-class, well-educated homeowners, according to a report that will be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine...

....Overall, three-quarters of the people with a medically-related bankruptcy had health insurance, they say.

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-06-05/health/bankruptcy.medical.bills_1_medical-bills-bankruptcies-health-insurance?_s=PM:HEALTH