Cancer increases bankruptcy risk, even for insured

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51893912/ns/health-cancer/

by Barbara Mantel, nbcnews.com
May 15th 2013 4:29 AM

Cancer patients are at much greater risk of bankruptcy than people without cancer, according to a large new study. And while the new health care law promises insurance coverage to more than 30 million Americans who lack it now, the high cost of cancer care can push many patients, especially younger women, into financial trouble, experts say.

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Overall, cancer patients were 2.5 times as likely as others to file for bankruptcy.

Non-white females were the most likely to file, while patients 65 or older were the least likely -- possibly because they were covered by Medicare and eligible for Social Security.

Bankruptcy rates among the younger groups were up to 10 times that of the older patients. “People who have fewer assets, less income and less generous insurance because of entry level jobs or no insurance are more vulnerable to severe financial distress,” Ramsey says.

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“previous studies tell us that about three-quarters of people who say that illness was a major factor in their bankruptcy had private health insurance, at least when they first got sick,”

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