This research was published in the American Journal of Medicine using 2007 data (many more people have lost their jobs and health insurance since 2008, as we all know):
http://pnhp.org/new_bankruptcy_study/Bankruptcy-2009.pdf
"Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study"
David U. Himmelstein, MD, Deborah Thorne, PhD, Elizabeth Warren, JD, Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH
Some findings were that:
- 62.1% of all personal bankruptcies have a medical cause
- Of those, 4 out of 5 (80%) started out with health insurance
- The share of bankruptcies attributable to medical problems rose by 50% between 2001 and 2007
- Most medical debtors were well educated and middle class; three quarters had health insurance, 2/3 owned a home
- Many families were underinsured for the medical care they needed and had thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket medical expenses
- Illnesses of workers or someone in their family caused the workers to lose their jobs, thus losing their medical coverage for themselves or for their sick family members (2/5, or 40%)
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