Do you know what health insurance and bankruptcy have in common?
Simply put, when there isn’t enough coverage from the health insurance for medical bills people are turning to bankruptcy to solve the financial situation they are faced with.
Illness and medical bills caused half of the 1,458,000 personal bankruptcies in 2001, according to a study published by the journal Health Affairs.
The study estimates that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans annually.
Another interesting fact, most of those bankrupted by illness had health insurance. More than 3/4 were insured at the start of the bankrupting illness. However, 38 % had lost coverage at least temporarily by the time they filed for bankruptcy.
Most of the medical bankruptcy filers were middle class; 56 percent owned a home and the same number had attended college. In many cases, illness forced the breadwinners to take time off from work. Losing income and job-based health insurance when families needed it most.
Today’s health insurance policies offer little protection during a serious illness. Uncovered medical bills averaged $13,460 for those with private insurance at the start of their illness. People with cancer had average medical debts of $35,878.
When these situations occur it is time to look into the systems that had as their original design helping the interested party. It now seems obvious that they fall short and need to have some restructuring.
Not all of us are fortunate enough to have the wealth to cover these types of unexpected illnesses. However, some people do leave money to relatives in the form of inheritances. Others, may have a will, but the benefactor is not found. Is there a chance that you could be the recipient of such a windfall? Go to www.CashUnclaimed.com and find out. This company will do an internet search to discover unclaimed property for you. It is simple, give it a try.
