Kathleen O’Connor, health care industry analyst and journalist, founded
CodeBlueNow! upon the belief that the public has a right to be involved
in creating its own health care policy. Involved in healthcare for 30 years, she
shares her unique ability to communicate current health care topics in
a language everyone can understand.Forgive medical debt?
This missive was originally posted on 4/12/2005
What if we exempted medical bills from bankruptcy? The US is the only country of our economic peers that lets its citizens go bankrupt over medical bills.
Of the people who file for bankruptcy, over 75% have insurance. Just not enough.
Think of it. If you have cancer and need a bone marrow transplant, that's $250,000. If you have the standard 80-20 plan; that's $50,000 of your money. How many people have that lying around in spare change?
And it is not as if there are foundations out there to help with this. I once asked a major international cancer treatment center that has a large and well funded foundation what they do when people come who are uninsured or underinsured?
Their answer chilled me--"we give them fundraising packages to help them raise money in their community."
Welcome to American health care--you can be insured, sick and vulnerable--and you get to bankrupt too.
More later, Kathleen
