On September 3, 2009
Why So Many Insured People Have Big Medical Debts
One in seven adult Californians who are less than 65 years old are paying off medical debts in excess of $2,000. Remarkably, two-thirds of those debtors are insured, according to a study by the UCLA Center for Policy Research. Among the 2.2 million people who were paying off big medical bills, 17 percent had debts ranging from $2,000 to $4,000; 9.4 percent owed between $4,000 and $8,000, and 8.7 percent owed $8,000 or more. One reason why insurance may not cover very much is that 7.2 percent of Californians are in high-deductible plans, including 38 percent of those who purchase their own insurance. For purposes of the survey, these plans were defined as having deductibles of $1,000 or more for…
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