Will your health insurance cover a medical emergency or leave you in debt? Increasingly, medical emergencies are driving people into debt or even bankruptcy, reports Annie Nova for CNBC. A simple fall like a slip on the ice and the cost of repairing your broken bones could be devastating for your financial well-being.
People with Medicare tend to have better financial protections than working people with health insurance when it comes to medical emergencies, according to new research published in Health Affairs. They further found that car accidents and falls can leave a substantial number of insured Americans in financial distress. People are more likely to face bankruptcy.
A trauma surgeon undertook this research after hearing from too many patients that they wanted to go without care because they were concerned about the cost. He and his colleagues analyzed credit reports of more than 12,000 patients. Almost all of them had health insurance.
Medical emergencies aside, health insurance is increasingly not meeting people’s medical needs. Benefits Pro reports on a new Morgan Health survey, which found that about one in seven people (14 percent) did not fill a prescription as a result of the cost, one in nine (11 percent) postponed care and one in eleven (9 percent) went without needed care because of the cost.
Bottom line: Health insurance will protect against catastrophic costs, if you get care. But, you still are likely to pay a high price for that care. And, out-of-pocket costs too often keep people with health insurance from getting basic care.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Medical debt plagues 100 million Americans
- 2026: Health insurers keep raising premiums, while profiting handsomely
- Costs in Medicare Advantage present barrier to care
- The deadly consequences of out-of-pocket drug costs
- Health care costs are devouring Social Security’s cost of living increase
