Government
Millions can't pay their medical bills
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 19, 2004
Medical debt affects 20 million families, or about 43 million Americans, often causing them to delay seeking subsequent medical care, according to a recent report from the Center for Studying Health System Change.
Two-thirds of those families also report difficulty paying for basic necessities, such as rent or mortgage payments, transportation costs and food. Although the uninsured are twice as likely to have medical debt, the insured are not immune. Two-thirds of families with medical debt have health insurance. About half of the country's personal bankruptcies are due at least in part to medical debt.
"These findings underscore the growing affordability crisis in our health care system, which is jeopardizing the health and financial security of millions of Americans," said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/07/19/gvbf0719.htm.
