Thank you for your candid article about the recent Harvard study that connects exorbitant medical bills to bankruptcy (“Medical bills pave way to poorhouse, study says; Many bankruptcies linked to illness,” Page 1, Feb. 2). The article serves as a valuable reminder that there is a serious health-care crisis in this country that is in need of our immediate attention and action. It is deplorable that 50 percent of people in the United States are only one major health problem away from declaring bankruptcy. Good health insurance is extremely difficult to afford and many insurance companies are taking advantage of consumers.
In fact, as your article points out, many of the people who declare bankruptcy are those who pay monthly premiums but accumulate huge medical bills because their insurance lacks adequate protection when they need it most.
There are community health centers, like Access Community Heath Network in Chicago, that provide quality primary and preventive health-care services to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. By giving people access to affordable preventive health care, recipients of that care are more likely to avoid costly emergency situations that lead to bankruptcy.
Although it often seems like our health-care system is failing, there are organizations working hard to make sure all people are equal when it comes to health care.
