If there were no doubts that the Affordable Care Act was sufficient to prevent medical bankruptcy, then a recent post in The New York Times‘ Upshot blog should correct that perception. True, the ACA reduced the number of uninsured Americans by 15 million since 2013, but the Times, along with the Kaiser Family Foundation, surveyed 1,204 adults under 65, about their medical bills. (Older Americans have Medicare.) The results are discouraging: Even Americans with health insurance have trouble paying for their medical costs, and their financial behavior mimics uninsured Americans’, from putting off vacations to borrowing money from friends and family, to forgoing food, heat, and housing payments.
Twenty percent of insured Americans had problems paying for medical costs, in contrast to 53 percent of uninsured Americans. However, of all Americans with problems paying for health care bills, 60 percent were insured as opposed to 34 percent who were not. Clearly, the fact that more Americans have health insurance outweighs the higher likelihood of financial difficulties among the uninsured. It’s good to have insurance, but it’s not enough.
Complicating the survey is the role of family incomes. Sometimes people reduce their work because of illness, but others work more to cover the costs. In fact, 41 percent of the Times‘ survey respondents said that they sought more work. Regardless, families are often already in financial difficulties before the onset of health problems.
So why does insurance not go far enough? One of the chief culprits is health insurance costs themselves. Deductibles have risen, as have co-payments. Moreover, it doesn’t help that many uninsured Americans merely buy the cheapest plans available (or that they can afford). Such plans often result in substantial co-payments due to multiple doctor visits, and insurers tend to cover smaller networks than before. According to the survey, many people with large medical bills did not realize that they were purchasing health care that wasn’t covered, leading to many claim denials. I discussed this exact situation a few months ago.
The Upshot post is here, but the Kaiser Family Foundation’s full report on the survey is here.
It’s not surprising that the ACA didn’t solve Americans’ health care problems or reduce costs much, but it is disappointing. If you are underneath large medical bills, then talking to an experienced New York bankruptcy lawyer can help.
For answers to more questions about bankruptcy, the automatic stay, effective strategies for dealing with foreclosure, and protecting your assets in bankruptcy please feel free to contact experienced Brooklyn bankruptcy attorney Bruce Weiner for a free initial consultation.
