The Trouble with For-Profit Healthcare: Even the Insured Face Mountains of Debt

[marmar]

(CommonDreams) For one in five Americans, just having medical insurance isn't enough to forestall the damaging consequences of the nation's for-profit healthcare system.

A comprehensive new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the New York Times finds that while an unsurprising 53 percent of people who are uninsured face problems with medical bills, a whopping 20 percent of working-age Americans who do have insurance also report having medical debt that causes serious financial challenges and changes in employment and lifestyle.

According to a Kaiser Foundation statement, people with insurance who faced the burden of medical debt reported "a wide range of consequences and sacrifices during the past year as a result," including:

delaying vacations or major household purchases (77%),
spending less on food, clothing and basic household items (75%),
using up most or all their savings (63%),
taking an extra job or working more hours (42%),
increasing their credit card debt (38%),
borrowing money from family or friends (37%),
changing their living situation (14%), and
seeking the aid of a charity (11%).

In addition, insured people with medical debt reported skipping or putting off other health care in the past year because of the cost, such as postponing dental care, skipping doctor-recommended tests or treatments, or not filling a prescription. .......(more)

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/01/05/trouble-profit-healthcare-even-insured-face-mountains-debt

[Old Codger]

1. Currently

In the middle of finding that this is very very true...Almost all of the above apply..

[progressoid]

2. Aaaayup.

[HughBeaumont]

3. Eh, they'll manage somehow. Maybe they can hold a bake sale to pay that debt.

After all, there's no way on Earth that Americans could accept a better way, because it would cost FAR FAR FAR too much as opposed to just keeping the sensibly sensible For Profit WealthCare we have now.