Increase in personal medical costs

There was an article in the Washington Post last week reporting that more than 2 in 5 adults in the 19-64 age group reported problems paying medical bills or had accumulated medical debt in 2007, compared to 1 in 3 in 2005. We all know about the plight of the uninsured. What is alarming about this new statistic is that 61% of those with medical debt or bill problems in this survey had health insurance.

I've recently seen an increase in the rise of individuals coming to me with problems having their insurance cover major medical bills that, IMO, are unquestionable as to the medical necessity. This is occurring among clients who are insured by the most reputable insurance companies. It is difficult to pay health insurance premiums AND out of pocket expenses at the same time.

You can review this survey at http://www.commonwealthfund.org/. The survey defines four problems with access to health care due to money or poor coverage: 1.) failure to fill a prescription, 2.) not seeing a specialist when needed, 3.) skipping a medical test, treatment or follow-up, and/or 4.) refraining from seeing a practitioner when a problem exists.

These problems are no longer relegated to the poor and the uninsured. The percentage of people with the above problems has approximately doubled among those with middle income ($40.000-59,999/year) and those with incomes of more than 60K per year.

Steve