Health Insurance Plans Are Critical For Everyone In The US

By Janet Gemstist

Many insurance buys are seen to be grudge purchases, however you may look at it health coverage plans are an absolute essential. The economy has hit the United States extemely hard and unemployment is high. Retirement accounts are hardly worth the paper they are wrote on and houses are being foreclosed upon.

The market values of houses have plummeted to all time lows, people no longer have value in their households and bankruptcies are at an all time high. These have elevated by 34.5% in comparing to the same period the previous year.

The American Journal of Medicine of late wrote an in-depth research study from the Cambridge Hospital and Harvard Medical School. This study offers proof that many bankruptcy filings have taken place for medical reasons. Medical prices are so high that individuals can't afford to pay them and they are losing their houses, credit ratings and virtually everything they have for the sake of their wellness.

Another 2 colleges have also entered into this fray and these are Ohio and Harvard Law School. From data accumulated, they have established that in 2007, 60% of bankruptcies were induced by out of control medical expenses for unexpected illness. The fact that medical treatment has become so expensive that people lose their homes seems to be insanity almost.

These figures are on the upswing now, and the more medical woesindividuals get, the more bankruptcies and foreclosure filings are taking place. A random sample of bankruptcy filers were investigated, this was a national survey and the test sample used was 2,316. Each of the court dockets was studied and it was determined that many bankruptcies were "medical" based. Of the test group, individuals were also in person interviewed and figures were compared against 2001 figures.

Even middle class people in the US with medical coverage have had to file for bankruptcy because of medical charges. Suffering from a tough or life threatening sickness has found people to be under insured, and left with a pile of medical treatment bills that they cannot afford to pay. These bills are in the thousands of dollars.

When the survey looked at medically bankrupt cases, most average insured individuals still owed as much as 17,000 for medical services. Of the uninsured group the average out-of-pocket expenses was more than $28,000.

Medical coverage is related to employment and vice versa, so when a individual becomes sick they may lose both their insurance policy and their occupation. This is a serious problem and it is something we should all be concerned about. - 29969

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