Medical debt is a big issue for consumers in the Tennessee. For many consumers, the promise of health insurance is a promise of freedom from financial ruin. Or at least that is what people would like to believe. According to a recently study, however, even with health insurance many people are still vulnerable to the financial challenges that too often occur when an unexpected medical condition occurs. Tennessee readers may find the following discussion on medical debt, health insurance and medical bankruptcy interesting.
While health insurance can do a lot to reduce some of the burdens of large hospital bills many Americans still struggle to manage. The reason: deductibles. According to a recent study by a newspaper, deductibles for plans currently available on the federal health insurance exchange, for example, average $3,000. For the lowest rate plans sometimes referred to as bronze-level plans, consumers can expect to pay closer to $5,000. For many Americans, even with the benefit of insurance, this may be too much to deal with.
While health insurance is certainly a benefit, because without health insurance, out of pocket costs for health care are unlimited, it is not the case that health insurance will fix everything. In fact, there is very strong evidence that, with or without health insurance, many Americans will continue to struggle with financial challenges due to mounting medical debt.
Dealing with mounting medical can be a stressful situation. Even with the insurance benefits available today, debt relief such as filing for bankruptcy may continue to be necessary to provide consumers with the fresh financial start they need.
Source: KSDK, "Medical debt will persist despite health law," Jayne O'Donnell and Paul Overberg, Jan. 14, 2014
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