title: Illness and injury as contributors to bankruptcy.
abstract: In 2001, 1.458 million American families filed for bankruptcy. To investigate medical contributors to bankruptcy, we surveyed 1,771 personal bankruptcy filers in five federal courts and subsequently completed in-depth interviews with 931 of them. About half cited medical causes, which indicates that 1.9-2.2 million Americans (filers plus dependents) experienced medical bankruptcy. Among those whose illnesses led to bankruptcy, out-of-pocket costs averaged dollar 11,854 since the start of illness; 75.7 percent had insurance at the onset of illness. Medical debtors were 42 percent more likely than other debtors to experience lapses in coverage. Even middle-class insured families often fall prey to financial catastrophe when sick.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. dhimmelstein@challiance.org
authors.forename: David U
authors.initials: DU
authors.lastname: Himmelstein
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thorne
authors.forename: Steffie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Woolhandler
mesh_terms: D016361:Bankruptcy; D017281:Cost of Illness; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000191:economics*