"We're all one serious illness away from bankruptcy"

Forbes Magazine:

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDayNews) -- Illness and medical bills contributed to roughly half the personal bankruptcy filings in 2001, affecting as many as 2.2 million Americans, a new Harvard study says.
More than 75 percent of the filers had insurance, but many of them lost coverage during their illness, the research showed.
The study, which appears in the Feb. 2 issue of Health Affairs, provides a rare -- and stark -- glimpse into the medical causes of bankruptcy in the United States.
People who succumb to medical debt are mostly middle-class or working-class people who own their own homes and have at least some college education, the study found.
"I think the message that we take away is, really, nobody is safe in our country. Short of (Microsoft Chairman) Bill Gates, if you're sick enough long enough, you're likely to be financially ruined," cautioned study author Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
"We're all one serious illness away from bankruptcy," he added.