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Follow on Google News | Medical Bankruptcies—Are You Next?By: SmartFinancial The Truth About Medical Bankruptcies: The good news is that your car cannot be repossessed due to medical debt because medical debts are unsecured. The bad news is that it's quite easy for the average American to accumulate this type of debt. Even though more Americans than ever have health insurance today, high deductibles and closed provider networks are still creating a gap that leads to medical bills that can quickly add up. Some types of care are not covered at all. The average health insurance policy, a silver-tier health plan, will cover 80% of costs, when the care is covered, leaving the patient with the remaining 20%, which can be overwhelming for many people. An operation can easily cost $15,000, leaving the patient with a $3,000 debt in addition to a copay for each follow-up visit and copays on all related medications. How Many Americans Have Medical Debt? Roughly 14 million people, which is about 6% of all American adults, owe over $1,000 in medical bills. Roughly three million people, which is about 1% of American adults, owe more than $10,000. To make matters worse, sometimes errors in billing and fraudulent bills, as well as other reasons outside the patient's control, cause medical debt. Inaccurate codes can inflate charges substantially, whether submitted intentionally or unintentionally by the care provider. Whether it's double billing or exceeding limits set on a procedure by the government, these types of practices often cause patients to saddle a debt, not even aware of the inaccuracy or fraudulent activity. Medical Bankruptcies and Credit Scores You have six months after a medical payment is due before the non-payment is reported to the major credit bureaus. Visit https://smartfinancial.com/ End
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