Foreclosures Aggravate the Problem of Medical Bankruptcy

Posted on July 7, 2009
Filed Under Foreclosure Homes | Leave a Comment

Foreclosures are aggravating the problem of medical bankruptcy. One of the victims is Dorothy Carmona. She is self-employed and does not have any health insurance. In 2004 she had a stroke and since then has been sliding into debt. Adding insult to injury the foreclosure crisis ruined her business. Her troubles peaked with her now being diagnosed for lung cancer.

Things reached a head when the lender bared fangs threatening foreclosure on her townhouse in Pembroke Pines. Her medical bills have piled up to $125,000 in one year and there are sundry other creditors. With no alternative left she filed for bankruptcy. Few days later she heard that her health had worsened.
48 years old Carmona is a single mother living with her teenage daughter. She bemoaned, “It’s been one nightmare after another. I’m ruined. I have nothing. They tell me I have five months to live. Right now I’m in a frightened mode. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me.”

The problem of Carmona typifies an increasing national problem. The costs of medical care are forcing citizens into financial ruin. It is imperative that medical coverage be extended to about 50 million who are still uninsured or under-insured.
A study conducted by Harvard University noted that 62% of all the bankruptcy cases filed in 2007 were because of huge medical bills. It is 50% hike from 2001 and 8% jump from 1981.

As yet no detailed study has been made of the reasons behind the bankruptcies in Florida but court figures show that since the recession the number of filing has staggeringly increased. In Palm Beach County these were up by 57% in comparison to the first four months of 2008. In Broward County bankruptcies cases shot up by 46%.

Les Auerbach an attorney dealing with bankruptcy cases in Boca Raton said, “Medical debt often puts them over the edge into bankruptcy.” There is a lot of discrepancy between those who are medically insured and those who are not. The latter are frequently charged more than the insured patients.
Eric Klein another attorney in Boca Raton said, “They get sick, they can’t work, they lose their jobs and the medical coverage runs out. They can’t pay their mortgage and they can’t pay their doctor.

Robert Bigge an attorney from Wilton Manors said that he says such cases nearly everyday. The jumbo bills from the medicines, tests and doctor’s visits are killing the people. He said, “These people are getting nickeled and dimed to death.”

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