Uninsured Americans Are Just 1 Traumatic Injury Away From Financial Ruin

This study shows that someone who is in a car accident, or is mugged, or experiences sudden trauma for some other reason, risks being driven to financial ruin,” he added. “In essence, unless you’re Bill Gates, you could be at risk of financial catastrophe if you fall seriously ill,” said Himmelstein, who was not involved with the study. The uninsured are not the only ones suffering the consequences of catastrophic health expenditures, Scott said. When hospitals fail to collect, they pass the costs onto paying customers and health-insurance companies, he said. “More uncompensated care leads to higher costs for everybody else,” he said. “For clinicians, it’s important to consider the financial strain as a complication of trauma care. Survival is not the only measure of good care,” he said. But when a patient asks him how much a CT scan will cost, he has no idea. Scott’s message to lawmakers considering changes to the Affordable Care Act: “Financial catastrophe is a reality for tens of thousands of Americans who haven’t planned for it. They’re being cured, but being cured into destitution.” “There’s nobody we turn away for emergency trauma care. We don’t check people’s insurance status. We don’t check their wallet,” he said. “If everybody is deserving of world-class trauma care, everybody is deserving of protection from financial catastrophe from that car...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news