The problem of medical debt, and the wonky fight behind Bernie Sanders's plan to eliminate it,

[Uncle Joe]

explained

(snip)

There is no denying that thousands of Americans go bankrupt entirely or partly because of medical debt. And even if they don’t go bankrupt, millions more people struggle with this type of debt on their personal ledgers, making it harder for them to borrow money and stay financially stable. Millions of Americans still lack health insurance, and they’re fully liable for their medical bills if they get sick or have an accident. But even health insurance does not always provide security against financial stress because poor health takes its toll in other ways, such as lost wages.

(snip)

Finkelstein’s 2018 paper co-published with Carlos Dobkin, Raymond Kluender, and Matthew Notowidigdo in the American Economic Review found that people with health insurance who were unexpectedly hospitalized saw an 11-point drop in their likelihood of being employed and an average loss in labor earnings of $9,000, a 20 percent decline.

(snip)

Himmelstein led an updated version of the survey and used a similar methodology as the studies in 2005 and 2009. The researchers sent questionnaires to people who had filed for bankruptcy, and two-thirds said they had medical debt or had lost income because of injury or illness. Take two-thirds of the 750,000 people who file for bankruptcy every year and you get 500,000, which is Sanders’s number. It’s this number that the Washington Post saw fit to give three out of four Pinocchios for lacking a strong enough empirical foundation.

(snip)

Rather than checking facts, the Post has chosen one side in an ongoing and unsettled scholarly debate, and labeled those on the other side (and public figures who cite their research) “liars”.

(snip)


https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/5/20847950/2020-presidential-election-bernie-sanders-health-care-bankruptcy

This is a good read.

[Hoyt]

1. Not a Sanders fan, but he made a good point -- medical costs bankrupt too many people.

Don't care if it's 500K, 250K, 50K.

On the other hand, I do care if a significant error -- or fabrication -- is made in the cost of a major program proposal and/or funding sources.

[corbettkroehler]

2. Prepare For The Criticism That Vox Is Owned Lock, Stock And Barrel By Sanders

What rot!