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Log in79 Million Americans Struggle to Pay Medical Bills
79 Million Americans Struggle to Pay Medical Bills
by Outspoken on Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:58 pm
79 Million Americans Struggle to Pay Medical Bills
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
(HealthDay News) -- Working-age Americans are facing mounting problems when it comes to affording health care, a result of what analysts are calling a "perfect storm" of economic woes.
In 2007, 41 percent of working-age Americans -- 72 million people -- reported having medical bill problems or trouble paying off medical debts, up from 34 percent in 2005.
Another 7 million adults over 65 had similar problems, bringing the total to 79 million adults struggling to pay health-care bills, according to a new study from The Commonwealth Fund, Losing Ground: How the Loss of Adequate Health Insurance Is Burdening Working Families.
"These findings provide further evidence that the health system is falling short of where it needs to be to ensure health and economic security," Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, said at a Tuesday teleconference. "We need a new administration to make universal and affordable health insurance available," she said.
Also unsettling is the fact that adults in more income groups are being affected.
"What is notable is how this is spreading up the income scale," said Commonwealth Fund assistant vice president Sara Collins.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080820/hl_hsn/79millionamericansstruggletopaymedicalbills;_ylt=Ahd6j3nNgRK3EU.0p_kV.VGs0NUE
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter
(HealthDay News) -- Working-age Americans are facing mounting problems when it comes to affording health care, a result of what analysts are calling a "perfect storm" of economic woes.
In 2007, 41 percent of working-age Americans -- 72 million people -- reported having medical bill problems or trouble paying off medical debts, up from 34 percent in 2005.
Another 7 million adults over 65 had similar problems, bringing the total to 79 million adults struggling to pay health-care bills, according to a new study from The Commonwealth Fund, Losing Ground: How the Loss of Adequate Health Insurance Is Burdening Working Families.
"These findings provide further evidence that the health system is falling short of where it needs to be to ensure health and economic security," Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, said at a Tuesday teleconference. "We need a new administration to make universal and affordable health insurance available," she said.
Also unsettling is the fact that adults in more income groups are being affected.
"What is notable is how this is spreading up the income scale," said Commonwealth Fund assistant vice president Sara Collins.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080820/hl_hsn/79millionamericansstruggletopaymedicalbills;_ylt=Ahd6j3nNgRK3EU.0p_kV.VGs0NUE
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
