Cost Of Medical Care Driving Up Rate Of US Bankruptcy

Results of a new US study find that up to 60% of personal bankruptcies that are reported in the country are because of medical bills.

The cost of medical care in America is absolutely stupendous, and in more cases than not, people with health care plans still could not keep afloat.

According to the team of researchers from Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University the majority of medical debts topped the $5000 mark.

According to the researchers, the number of medical related bankruptcies from 2001 to 2007 rose by an astounding 50 percent.

“Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations,” wrote the researchers.

“Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92 percent of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5,000, or 10 percent of pretax family income.”