Medical bankruptcies INCREASE in MA after health care "reform"

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/27/1686304/we-need-single-payer-nonprofit.html

Now comes a Harvard research study showing that despite the increase in the number of people covered, the Massachusetts reform hasn't made a significant dent in the medical bankruptcy rate. Families still are being ruined by unpayable medical bills.

The researchers discovered that between early 2007 and mid-2009 — before and after the reform took effect — the share of medical bankruptcies in Massachusetts changed very little, from 59.3 percent to 52.9 percent. The absolute number of medical bankruptcies actually climbed from 7,504 to 10,093.

Lest you think only low-income families are being financially clobbered by medical debt, think again. Two-thirds of the bankruptcy filers were college-educated and 89 percent had health insurance when they filed their court papers.

In explanation, the authors of the study, which appears in the American Journal of Medicine, write: "Health costs in the state have risen sharply since reform was enacted. Even before the changes in health care laws, most medical bankruptcies in Massachusetts — as in other states — afflicted middle-class families with health insurance. High premium costs and gaps in coverage — co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services — often left insured families liable for substantial out-of-pocket costs. None of that changed."

Lead author Dr. David Himmelstein elaborates: "Massachusetts' health reform, like the national law modeled after it, takes many of the uninsured and makes them under-insured, typically giving them a skimpy, defective private policy that's like an umbrella that melts in the rain: The protection's not there when you need it."


Needless to say, these findings don't bode well for the look-alike federal law's ability to end the scandalous blight of medical bankruptcies in the U.S. And behind these statistics are tragic, heart-rending stories.

All attempts that "save" the health insurance industry profits are doomed to (very very very) expensive failure.

mandatory health insurance would be able to completely control costs.

:eyes:

It's token coverage, that's the problem.

Rommenycare keeping corporative profits high by sucking in those unsuspecting customers. Its like having a new car with a $10000 dollar deductible for collision & comprehensive coverage.