http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05033/451330.stm                                           HOME Study: Bankruptcies, medical debt often tied Wednesday, February 02, 2005   By Christopher Snowbeck, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette About half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States strike people in the wake of an illness or injury, according to a new study, and many of those households are led by middle-class workers who had health insurance.
			This new portrait of medical debt, which is described by Harvard University researchers today in the journal Health Affairs, will be used by groups arguing for a national health insurance program. But some local officials involved with personal bankruptcies say they aren't seeing the picture that's being painted in the article.       The study looked at 1,771 personal bankruptcy cases in five federal judicial districts during 2001. About 28 percent of those filers cited illness or injury as the specific reason for their bankruptcies.      Another 18 percent accumulated large medical bills, mortgaged homes to pay bills or experienced significant losses in work-related income -- situations researchers described as "major medical bankruptcies."        The researchers reviewed questionnaires completed by people going through bankruptcy and then conducted follow-up interviews with 391 debtors or family members whose medical problems contributed to bankruptcy. Illness begot financial problems both directly from medical costs and through lost income.           "Often it was a factor that led to a spiral," said Dr. David Himmelstein, one of the researchers. "So it wasn't the medical debts per se, but it was an illness that led to some medical debts simultaneous to losing a job, or losing time at work and lost income as a result."
		Himmelstein believes the study makes a powerful argument for a universal health insurance program, because so many of those bankrupted by health problems had private insurance. Union officials will be echoing that sentiment today at a Downtown rally in support of national health insurance reform. But the link between health care bills and bankruptcy isn't universally recognized.         "I don't see a tremendous amount of bankruptcies caused by health reasons," said Charles O. Zebley Jr. of Uniontown, who serves as a trustee in personal bankruptcy cases. "I'm seeing people with lots of medical bills at times, but that's not the bill that puts them over."
	(Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at csnowbeck@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2625.)