A study was released today in Health Affairs that flies in the face of MBNA wisdom: over 50% of personal bankruptcies in America are a direct result of costs associated with illness and medical expenses. What's more disheartening is that most of those expenses don't even fall into the "catastrophic illness" category. Here's a link to a story from the Chicago Sun-Times that is all too typical.
The statistics provided in the study couldn't be more timely. Credit card and banking / lending institutions have been pushing for bankruptcy "reform" for several years, and it looks like 2005 could be the year they finally hit paydirt. The bottom line: buy term life insurance, and if you get sick, hope you die so your heirs can pay off your bills. Otherwise, a lifetime of indentured servitude and/or debtor's prison is a distinct possibility.
