According to a recent survey, a large percent of the 50 million people in the U.S. who are uninsured, have practically no savings. On the average, families with no insurance can only afford to pay off about 12 percent of their total hospital bill. The uncompensated cost of care (health care the uninsured can’t pay) is more than 70 billion dollars a year.
Another survey shows that last year 75 million adults did not get health care they needed; they skipped doctor appointments, went without prescription medication, didn’t go to specialists or skipped medically necessary tests, because of the cost.
This same survey also revealed that 73 million people reported trouble paying their medical bills and last year more than 44 million people were still trying to pay off a previous medical bill. More than 29 million people have used up their savings to pay off medical debt, and another 17 million incurred credit card debt to pay for medical bills.
The Department of Health and Human Services report that every year about two million uninsured people are hospitalized, with over half resulting in a bill over ten thousand dollars. Most of the people who are uninsured can’t pay their bill.
Well over four million people have filed bankruptcy because of high medical debts. No one should have to file bankruptcy or lose their life savings because of medical debt. It is essential for people to have health insurance; one serious accident or illness could put millions in our population into financial disaster.
A person is 50 percent more likely to have a car wreck than to be admitted into the hospital; but that one hospital visit will cost you 2.5 times as much as a car wreck typically does.
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