How Health Care Affects Filing Bankruptcy

HOW HEALTH CARE AFFECTS FILING BANKRUPTCY THE SKYROCKETING COST OF MEDICAL CARE Over the last 30 years medical costs increased significantly faster than other necessities. of health care quickly outpaced its peers. In some decades, the Consumer Price Thirty years ago, medical care costs were on par with housing, food and energy. But Index for medical care grew at double the rate of other essential items. Of all bankruptcies filed in 2007, while the costs of those basic items grew at about the same rate, the cost Today, the CPI of medical care is 75% higher than the second fastest growing item. * over 62% were due in part to medical bills. 350 350 300 300 250 250 200 200 150 150 92% of these filers had medical debts over $5,000, or 10% of their pretax family income. 100 100 50 50 Who Files Medical Bankruptcy? 1970 1980 1990 2000 2007* $141,861 • Average Home Value $2,586 • Average Monthly Income 60% • College Graduates 46% • Married 75% • Employed CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (CPI) BASED ON MOST RECENT DATA FROM 2007. SOURCES: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, "HEALTH, UNITED STATES, 2008" BY CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL, "MEDICAL BANKRUPTCY IN THE UNITED STATES, 2007: RESULTS OF A NATIONAL STUDY" • MEDICAL CARE • ENERGY • HOUSING • APPAREI . FOOD • MEDICAL CARE • ENERGY • HOUSING • APPAREL . FOOD • MEDICAL CARE • ENERGY • HOUSING • APPAREL FOOD • MEDICAL CARE · ENERGY • HOUSING . APPAREL • MEDICAL CARE • ENERGY HOUSING • APPAREL FOOD