Uninsured leading to the mortgage crisis

November 18, 2008 2:40 AM

I'm looking for anecdotes of the uninsured facing financial crisis, such as losing their houses, due to medical bills.

I'm writing an essay on health insurance and would like to start with an anecdote of someone losing their house or something similar due to lack of health insurance. I want to say that I heard Obama use a similar story in one of his speeches but can't seem to find it again. I'm also sure that I've heard similar stories on NPR but again I can't find any transcripts. I know there are stories like this out there but I can't seem to find any. It'd also be nice if the story was from a source that I can cite for my paper.

posted by woolylambkin to health & fitness (4 answers total)

Can you use Michael Moore's Sicko movie?
posted by bystander at 3:28 AM on November 18, 2008

Pretty sure Sicko was about people who have insurance and still get screwed.
posted by dilettante at 3:29 AM on November 18, 2008

Check out this series, on low-wage workers, in the Washington Post. I haven't read them all, but it seems that in at least one of the pieces I read there were anecdotes similar to the one you're looking for.

Here's a readers' write thing from a Tampa Bay paper.
posted by rtha at 6:00 AM on November 18, 2008

A couple of cites you can look up in your school's databases.

Title:Think you're covered? Think again.
Author(s):Sara Austin.
Source:Self 26.10 (Oct 2004): p.247(2). From General OneFile.
Document Type:Magazine/Journal
Abstract:
Steffie Woolhander, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston reveals that nearly 1 million Americans declared bankruptcy because of medical issues. Joanne Jordan, one of them narrates her personal struggle with medical coverage and insurances.

Title:Bankruptcies By Consumers Climb Sharply.(Business/Financial Desk)(THE DEBT TRAP).
Author(s):Tara Siegel Bernard and Jenny Anderson.
Source:The New York Times 158.54496 (Nov 16, 2008): p.A1(L). (1781 words) From General OneFile.
Money Quote:
And, of course, some people continue to seek bankruptcy for the usual reasons.
Lisa Marquis, a 35-year-old mother of five in Indiana, has no medical insurance but has undergone 21 operations in the last nine years, some related to emphysema and other respiratory diseases, and others related to accidents and several miscarriages.
In April, facing more than $114,000 in medical bills and less available overtime work, the Marquises filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy -- the third time in less than 10 years that Mrs. Marquis had to file for protection because of medical bills. Because the latest filing is a Chapter 13, they have agreed to pay some of their debts.

Title:Family beset by medical, financial crises: They were coping with medical issues when hit by job loss and a car wreck.
Source:Tulsa World (Tulsa, OK) (Dec 12, 2007)(762 words) From General OneFile.
Document Type:Newspaper
First paragraph:
Dec. 12--In one day, Chad and Alicia Jordan found out their older child has autism and their younger faces three rare disorders.
A few years ago, they declared bankruptcy because of medical bills. They have been making their monthly budget, but a series of unexpected setbacks started a downward spiral.
posted by saucysault at 9:38 AM on November 18, 2008