Medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcies in US

I thought I'd share some interesting facts that I found recently. These clearly show the importance of having well rounded medical insurance coverage. Gone are the days where you could consider yourself safe with major medical coverage only. Perhaps it is time fro you to consider if you have enough coverage.

Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported Thursday.

More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine.

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

I found it interesting and quite surprising that over 75% of those filing bankruptcy for medical reasons had health insurance. I really do feel that it is important that people focus on all health related expenses rather than just major medical. Have you thought about how you would pay for a critical illness, long term care, or even a terminal illness?

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The researchers, whose work was paid for by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the share of bankruptcies that could be blamed on medical problems rose by 50 percent from 2001 to 2007.