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Posted
Jun 04 2009, 03:43 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
A new study finds that more than 60% of personal bankruptcies in the United States in 2007 were caused by health care costs associated with a major illness. That's a 50% increase in the number of bankruptcies blamed on medical expenses since a similar study in 2001.
In an article to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine, the results of the first-ever national random-sample survey of bankruptcy filers shows that illnesses and medical bills contribute to a large and increasing share of bankruptcies.
"The U.S. health care financing system is broken, and not only for the poor and uninsured," said Harvard Medical School researcher Dr. David U. Himmelstein. "Middle-class families frequently collapse under the strain of a health care system that treats physical wounds, but often inflicts fiscal ones."
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Posted
Sep 10 2008, 12:14 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Two encounters with illness have cost David of My Two Dollars and his wife nearly $10,000 out-of-pocket so far this year, and that's not including the $320 a month they were paying for health insurance premiums. Health care is a huge personal-finance topic, but PF bloggers rarely write about it -- unless it hits close to home. Luckily, David and his wife were able to absorb the unanticipated expenses. But, he wonders, what about people who can't?
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Posted
Apr 10 2009, 10:39 AM
by
Joan Melcher
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Free medical care in the good ole U.S.A.? Could it be that Congress finally passed a national health care bill?
Don’t get too excited. It's Walgreens that's offering free medical care for unemployed, uninsured workers through its recently unveiled Take Care Recovery Plan.
Under the plan, people who are laid off and don’t have insurance, and their uninsured family members, can receive free treatment during 2009 for minor ailments at Take Care clinics in 342 locations across the country.
But there is a catch or two.
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Posted
Sep 28 2009, 01:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A new Harvard study estimates that nearly 45,000 Americans die each year because they don't have health insurance -- and that's after other factors like income and unhealthy behaviors are taken into account.
"Deaths associated with lack of health insurance now exceed those caused by many common killers such as kidney disease," an article by the Cambridge Health Alliance reports.
The study says the uninsured have a 40% higher risk of death than people who have private health insurance -- like the insurance you get through your job. Or, to put it another way, a person dies because of a lack of insurance every 12 minutes.
Of course, some people neglect their health. But many, we suspect, don't see a doctor because they're afraid of the cost. Doctor visits and tests can add up to an intimidating amount, even if you're uninsured but have a good income. A CNN story put a human face on some of these avoidable deaths -- a freelance cameraman, a self-employed mother of two, and a 25-year-old woman who worked in a movie theater.
So we had to wonder: Have you put off visits to the doctor because of financial considerations?
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Posted
Apr 16 2009, 06:16 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Fred Lee at partner blog Wise Bread.
Even though many of us may take our health for granted, one thing that strikes a chord in everyone is the high price of medical care. Between the rising cost of routine doctor visits and medication to the regular increases in our insurance premiums, health care is on most people's minds.
And yet, how many of us really take the time to understand all that we're being charged for?
Granted, medical bills can read as if they were written in another language, and for all intents and purposes, they are. That is because medicine, not unlike law, is filled with the esoteric language of the profession. Sprinkle in a generous amount of Latin, and it can leave you feeling pretty helpless and lost. Furthermore, many of us don't go to see a doctor or a lawyer until we need one, and at that point we are not necessarily in the best position to argue every nickel and dime.
On the other hand, is complete ignorance the answer? Or is it better to take the time to understand all that we are being charged for, even if it's a hassle and may intimidate us?
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Posted
Aug 05 2009, 05:49 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Until recently, you didn't need to bring a lot of money when you visited the doctor, at least if you had health insurance. That is changing, The Wall Street Journal reports. More doctors are demanding your full co-pay and co-insurance amount up front, which can be hundreds or thousands of dollars under some high-deductible plans.
Insurance policies with increased co-pays and deductibles are making the patient responsible for a larger share of medical bills. In turns, doctors and hospitals, which used to focus on getting their fees from insurance companies, are also focusing on collecting from their patients.
"The days of coming up with just a $10 co-pay -- that ship sailed a long time ago," Jeff Drasnin, a pediatrician in the Cincinnati area, told The Wall Street Journal. Collecting at time of service has "cut out a tremendous amount of bad debt we used to write off," he says.
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Posted
Mar 05 2008, 07:51 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. 2008 has been a difficult year. On Dec. 30, I rushed my wife to the emergency room. She had severe abdominal pain and was literally doubled over as we raced to the hospital. When morphine didn't dull the pain, they moved to Dilaudid, which is much stronger. It took the edge off the pain. Then the vomiting started. Ten hours and many tests later, they released her. They didn't know what the problem was, but the medicine had reduced her systems. After a restless night, the pain returned, and off we went to the hospital at 5 a.m. This time we spent 13 hours in the emergency room before she was admitted. More tests, more guesses, more pain and more vomiting. By Jan. 2 (happy new year, by the way), they had narrowed the problem to one of her kidneys and scheduled a procedure for later in the week. The procedure went well, and everything seemed to be resolved. She was discharged that day. Five hours later the pain and vomiting returned. We were off to the emergency room again, she was admitted and had the same procedure. She was discharged the next day, nine days after the ordeal had begun. She's doing much better now, although there are a number of follow-ups yet to go. They think the problem has been resolved, but they aren't certain. I give you all of this background so you can better appreciate the following four things this experience taught us about health insurance (we have preferred-provider organization or PPO insurance).
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Posted
Sep 21 2009, 06:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We knew that health insurance companies refuse to sell individual policies to people who've had cancer or hypertension. But acne or bunions -- or working in a first-responder job?
Insurance company documents obtained and made public by Consumer Watchdog indicate how far some insurers will go to limit individual coverage to only the healthiest people (and those with the safest jobs). A hangnail? You'll get coverage. Toenail fungus? Perhaps not.
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Posted
Nov 07 2008, 12:50 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Hey, you with the half-mast eyes: Put that coffee down and tell me how you're feeling. Rested, alert and upbeat? Ready to take on the world, or at least to accomplish everything on today's to-do list?
That's what I thought. You need a nap. We all need naps. A 20- to 40-minute snooze can change your mood, improve your cognitive abilities and maybe even save your life.
Oh, and it's also a frugal hack. More on that later.
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Posted
Feb 04 2009, 03:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Rutgerskevin" at The Red Stapler Chronicles coined a new term that's apropos for our collective economic situation. It's the "layoff drill," which, much like a fire drill, will help prepare you for an emergency situation.
Basically, you pretend you just lost your job and figure out how you're going to get by. "Sound like just a stupid game of make believe?" he writes. "Tell that to the 100,000 Americans that lost their jobs in just the last two days."
Kevin designed and executed a layoff drill just in case, and found that it was incredibly productive. While Kevin is usually one of the funniest bloggers we read, this was no joke.
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