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Soaring medical bills cause >50% of bankruptcies
A Harvard Medical School led study, as reported by Reuters on February 3, 2005, suggests that half of all U.S. bankruptcies are caused by soaring medical bills.
The findings of the study, underscore the importance of settlement planning for personal injury victims and their families. The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, estimated that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans every year, if both debtors and their dependents, including about 700,000 children, are counted.
An interesting point in the study suggests that most people sent into debt by illness are middle-class workers with health insurance. Injured claimants, with current medical or potential medical needs, generally have a one-time chance to get their planning right.
Devices and tools such as structured settlements, special needs trusts, settlement preservation trusts, long term care insurance, life insurance, disability insurance may all come into play depending on an individual's circumstances.
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