COVERITLIVE.COM

12:02

DeanCalbreath - Hi! This is Dean Calbreath at the Union-Tribune.

12:02

DeanCalbreath - I'm here today to talk about health care, since I just wrote a health care column in Sunday's paper.

12:03

DeanCalbreath - It's not the first column I've written about the topic, but this one covered a study showing that in 2007, 62 percent of bankruptcy filings listed health care bills or other medical reasons as a factor in the filing.

12:04

DeanCalbreath -

Health care, of course, was one of the hot topics in last year's election, and it remains a hot topic today, although it has been superceded by concern for the economy as a whole.

12:07

DeanCalbreath -

We've got a poll asking whether you know of anyone who's filed for bankruptcy for health care.

12:08

DeanCalbreath -

In my personal life, I've never encountered that, although I'm fortunate enough to only know one person who's filed for bankruptcy (over credit cards).

12:09

DeanCalbreath - But as a reporter, I do hear of cases. And, like most Americans, I suspect, I have known of plenty of people who have faced severe financial hardship paying down their healthcare bills.

12:11

[Comment From Sick of it all]
Dean, about the obligatory coverage discussed by the administration: First, will this force insurers to accept the "uninsurable"? And second, what if you still can't afford coverage?

12:11

DeanCalbreath -

Right now, the administration's plans are pretty amorphous.

12:12

DeanCalbreath -

There's a lot of debate over what the plan will and won't ask insurers.

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