Having Health Insurance Doesn't Always Protect People From Medical Debt

http://www.cfah.org/hbns/archives/getDocument.cfm?documentID=22408

"n 2010, about 40 percent of Americans—or 73 million people—had trouble paying medical bills, up from 34 percent in 2005. Now, a new study confirms that having health insurance coverage is no guarantee against accumulating medical debt for working-age adults. Not surprisingly, the study likewise finds that both medical debt and lack of insurance coverage lead to reduced access to health care.

“We think of insurance as protecting us from unexpected large financial impact. We have car insurance, house insurance and other kinds of insurance for that reason,” said Patricia Herman, lead study author and an economist at the University of Arizona. “There is an expectation that if you have health insurance that you are protected from being financially devastated by illness or injury. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.”

The study, which appears online and in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health, used data from the 2008 Arizona Health Survey of 4,200 state households. The survey included items about whether households were having trouble paying medical bills, if participants had delayed or not obtained medications or other needed medical care and whether participants had chronic health conditions. It also asked questions about household income, ethnicity and health insurance status."

If you have insurance with an ungodly high deductible, you may not have the $5-10K you need up front.
Or like a friend of mine whose copay-up front- for her surgery was $6K.

Years can wipe out savings. A chronically ill wage-earner can lose their job, see their income drop to the point where bankruptcy is the only option.

HCR takes too long to kick in, and I'm wonder if it will really protect families.

I finally had to drop health insurance. Couldn't afford paying $600+ a month for $10K deductible no Rx coverage.

The difference? Generic drugs are covered but doctor visits are not covered.

My premium is approaching $350 per month. I have no documented health issues since I haven't seen a frickin doctor in 15 years.

I don't expect the so-called "health care reform" legislation which was passed to do one damned thing to improve the options available to me.

My personal money situation in this economy has sunk so bad if I tried to keep paying health insurance I can't keep a roof over my head.

I am long-term unemployed and have no hope of finding work.

Good luck to you.

:hug:

...including co-pays,balances and pharmaceuticals.
My total bill was 750K.
They'll be lucky if they see some of it.

be gaps in coverage in order for everyone to make money.
This is the way it is designed.

If Insusurance covers only a portion of the cost of a procedure
or treatment, the individual has to pay the difference.

If you wish to consult a specialist outside your Provider Group,
you pay the cost.

For those who can afford more expensive coverage, more stuff
is covered and they do not have as large gaps if any. However
they pay more each month for Health Insurance.

But this is our system and has always been our system. No
one Dem or Repubs, changed these basics in HCR.

The only reason to keep our current health care system, which is what the health insurance "reform" legislation did, is to 1)make profits and 2)ration care.

Each day, 273 people die due to lack of health care in the U.S.; that's 100,000 deaths per year. This is not only a moral issue, but a national security issue that we're so vulnerable given that our health care delivery system is so fragmented and dysfunctional, and we have a shortage of primary care physicians.

We need single-payer health care, not a welfare bailout for the serial-killer insurance agencies.

We don't need the GingrichCare of mandated, unregulated, for-profit insurance that is still too expensive, only pays parts of medical bills, denies claims, bankrupts and kills people.

Republinazi '93 plan:

"Subtitle F: Universal Coverage - Requires each citizen or lawful permanent resident to be covered under a qualified health plan or equivalent health care program by January 1, 2005."

"Employer-based health insurance has always been a bad idea. Your life should not depend on who you work for." -- T. McKeon

"Any proposal that sticks with our current dependence on for-profit private insurers ... will not be sustainable. And the new law will not get us to universal coverage ...." -- T.R. Reid, The Healing of America

"Despite the present hyperbole by its supporters, this latest effort will end up as just another failed reform effort littering the landscape of the last century." --John Geyman, M.D., Hijacked! The Road to Single Payer in the Aftermath of Stolen Health Care Reform

Very worried about my ex's cancer treatment, loss of job on top of bills.