Medical Bankruptcy: Myth Versus Fact -- Dranove and Millenson, 10.1377/hlthaff.25.w74 -- Health Affairs
Medical Bankruptcy: Myth Versus Fact -- Dranove and Millenson, 10.1377/hlthaff.25.w74 -- Health Affairs: "
ABSTRACT:
David Himmelstein and colleagues recently contended that medical problems contribute to 54.5 percent of personal bankruptcies and threaten the solvency of solidly middle-class Americans. They propose comprehensive national health insurance as a solution. A reexamination of their data suggests that medical bills are a contributing factor in just 17 percent of personal bankruptcies and that those affected tend to have incomes closer to poverty level than to middle class. Moreover, for national health insurance to have an impact, it would have to define “medical” expenses in a much broader way than is now typical of either private or government-funded plans. [Health Affairs 25 (2006): w74–w83 (published online 28 February 2006; 10.1377/hlthaff.25.w74)]
The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth: persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
—President John F. Kennedy, Commencement Address at Yale University, 11 June 1962.
It is no secret that bad health and bad debt often coincide. Unexpectedly large medical bills can impose a sizable burden on those who are already physically and economically fragile. In some cases, medical debt can contribute to a collapse of creditworthiness/.../"
ABSTRACT:
David Himmelstein and colleagues recently contended that medical problems contribute to 54.5 percent of personal bankruptcies and threaten the solvency of solidly middle-class Americans. They propose comprehensive national health insurance as a solution. A reexamination of their data suggests that medical bills are a contributing factor in just 17 percent of personal bankruptcies and that those affected tend to have incomes closer to poverty level than to middle class. Moreover, for national health insurance to have an impact, it would have to define “medical” expenses in a much broader way than is now typical of either private or government-funded plans. [Health Affairs 25 (2006): w74–w83 (published online 28 February 2006; 10.1377/hlthaff.25.w74)]
The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth: persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
—President John F. Kennedy, Commencement Address at Yale University, 11 June 1962.
It is no secret that bad health and bad debt often coincide. Unexpectedly large medical bills can impose a sizable burden on those who are already physically and economically fragile. In some cases, medical debt can contribute to a collapse of creditworthiness/.../"
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