WHY was that bankruptcy legislation important to Americans?

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Accuracy IT " <accuracy_consultant

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 06:56:45 -0700 (PDT)

WHY was that bankruptcy legislation important to Americans?

 

 

 

This story tells why That bankruptcy " reform " legislation passed

earlier this year is a classic case of corporate Amerika using

congress to screw Americans.

 

WHY was it so important to them to get it passed? Read this story and

then ask yourself " am I too vulnerable? "

 

 

 

 

http://news./s/hsn/20050810/hl_hsn/medicalbilldebthitseventheinsured

 

 

Medical Bill Debt Hits Even the Insured

 

By Karen Pallarito

HealthDay ReporterWed Aug 10, 7:02 PM ET

 

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Millions of American families

have trouble paying their medical bills or erasing their medical debt,

even when they have health insurance, a new analysis reveals.

 

Almost two out of five adults -- an estimated 77 million people -- had

medical bill and debt problems in 2003, analysts at The Commonwealth

Fund reported Wednesday.

 

Uninsured individuals were twice as vulnerable, the study found. But

having health insurance did not prevent financial hardship: The

majority of adults who had bill problems and medical debt said they

were insured at the time their difficulties began.

 

" What this study really shows is that people who are insured are also

sharing medical burdens, and the type of insurance they have isn't

adequately covering their out-of-pocket costs, and so their care is

not being met, " said study author Michelle M. Doty, a senior analyst

at The Commonwealth Fund.

 

" Almost everybody but the really well-off are at risk here, " added

Carol Pryor, a senior policy analyst at The Access Project in Boston.

 

The new analysis helps to substantiate results of a widely publicized

Harvard bankruptcy study that found many people were insured when they

incurred the medical debt that contributed to their financial ruin.

 

It also raises a difficult question: Why are so many insured folks

struggling with medical bills and debt? Doty and her colleagues

implicated " gaps " in coverage, including high cost-sharing and a lack

of key benefits, such as prescription drug coverage.

 

As an example, 49 percent of adults with deductibles of at least $500

a year had medical bill and debt woes, while 32 percent of those who

had deductibles of less than $500 reported similar difficulties.

 

" The trend toward higher deductibles in employer plans may have gone

too far, " Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, noted in a

statement.

 

Not so, countered Dan Perrin, executive director of the HSA Coalition,

a Washington, D.C.-based outfit that advocates the use of health

savings accounts (HSAs) to keep health insurance affordable. By

switching to a high-deductible health insurance plan, people can cut

their monthly premiums and set aside some of the savings to cover

their out-of-pocket costs, he added.

 

" The idea is to take money out of that check that's going to your

insurance company, and put it in your account instead, " he said.

 

Using data drawn from a 2003 health insurance survey, Doty and

colleagues assessed the extent of Americans' medical bill-paying

problems and current or accrued medical debt. In the survey, people

were asked whether they had difficulty paying or were unable to pay

their bills, whether they had been contacted by a collection agency

about owing money for medical bills, and whether they had to change

their way of life significantly to pay their medical bills.

 

" We weren't talking about luxury items you weren't able to purchase

because of your medical bills, " Doty noted.

 

Beyond creating financial hardships for families, medical bill and

debt problems can cause people to forgo needed care. Even after

adjusting for insurance, income, health status and other variables,

people with medical bill and debt problems were much more likely to

not fill a prescription, not see a doctor or skip recommended tests,

treatments or follow-up visits, the study found.

 

" When people accumulate medical debt, they're embarrassed to go back

(to the doctor), " Doty said.

 

As health plans respond to rising health-care costs by placing limits

on coverage and raising patients' cost-sharing, policymakers must

consider the plight of the nation's " underinsured, " the authors concluded.

 

" We can no longer just add people (to insurance rolls) and think,

'Well, now they're insured,' without really looking at what they're

getting when they are insured, " Doty said.

 

More information

 

The Center for Studying Health System Change examines access to care

and medical bill problems.

 

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Pick your issue: Job loss, illegal immigration, corporate scandal,

unprovoked war, cronyism, attacks on worker rights and environmental

laws, out of control federal deficits, budget cuts, on and on, choose

any one you want; they are all connected by the single thread of

corruption of government by corporate sponsors. Until people see this

as the central problem we will just continue to spin our wheels and

lose battle after battle. We are not just defeating job loss, we are

defeating massive corruption.