Axios - A serious illness will often wipe out your life savings even if you have health insurance. That's the sobering conclusion from a new national survey of people who have had to rely on the health care system intensively.
By the numbers, via the NYT:
36% of seriously ill patients with insurance said they had used up all or most of their savings to pay for their care; 29% had a bill referred to a collection agency; and 21% said they had been unable to pay for basic necessities.
Among seriously ill patients without insurance, 57% said they had spent through their savings, and 51% reported being unable to afford things like food and housing.
Making matters worse, 53% said their illness had kept them from working, at least temporarily. That may not be a direct health care cost — it's not money that goes into the health care system — but it's a big part of the toll that the system takes on the people who need it.
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