Though financial failures in the USA often have been blamed on careless consumer borrowing or the widespread layoffs of the recession, the Sutherlands' financial storyline is strikingly common.
Two years ago, researchers at Harvard and Ohio universities reported that 62 percent of all bankruptcies were related to medical debt. An American family, they said, filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of illness every 90 seconds — and three-quarters of those families had health insurance.
Although the data used for the study is now 4 years old, most experts interviewed said the problem is likely only to have worsened, at least until this year, as out-of-pocket medical costs have continued to spiral.
In addition, widespread layoffs have contributed to the rapid rise in uninsured Americans, who now number more than 59 million. For most of them, any major medical expense threatens to overwhelm their resources, leading to further bankruptcies and driving up costs for those who can pay. According to Families USA — a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer-advocacy group — the shifting of uncompensated care onto insured patients results in a "hidden health tax."
For more: Medical bankruptcy: Medical debts push middle class families into bankruptcy - Orlando Sentinel
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