Most of Europe does not have bankruptcy laws comparable to the US. Technically they do exist but the differences in the details are so large they may as well be called two different things.
Often cited, but wrong. When you dig in, it turns out to be one of those "wet streets cause rain" causal mix-ups:
That coupled with private equity's involvement in all late / end of life care ensures no one dies with a penny to their name to pass down.
It still paints a picture of an out of control, over-financialized system that only gets more expensive the more money is put into it.
This study deliberately does not - just for example - count it as a "medical bankruptcy" if you weren't hospitalized. So magically every person who was bankrupted by the cost of their must-take prescription medicine, they don't count because they need to be admitted to hospital to count for this study.
As it is, the 2/3 statistic is mainly used to score political points and indeed one of the authors of the original study that came up with the 60% number is Elizabeth Warren. Now, you could say she participated in her capacity as an academic, but I personally have a hard time believing she would have put her name on the paper if it had found, say, 4% of bankruptcies came from medical debt.
If people are arguing about whether the Earth is flat or spherical, you cant use the fact that both are "wrong" (as the Earth is closer to an ellipsoid) to say that "flat" is as correct as "spherical".
> people who were admitted to the hospital
Ah yes, because there's no other way to get large medical debt. Not like an ambulance and ER stay alone will be high.
> in California
Obviously representative of a wider area: the most expensive state in the country and #5 highest median income.
> adults 25 to 64 years of age
Yes, let's exclude those who tend to have the highest medical bills and lowest incomes.
> were admitted to the hospital (for a non–pregnancy-related stay)
Yes, let's exclude pregnancies, which can be extremely expensive (thank god medicaid covered ours).
> for the first time in at least 3 years.
Yes, let's exclude people who have the highest medical debt by virtue of having had multiple hospitalizations.
So are you saying that 2/3 of personal bankruptcy cause medical debt?
Medical bankruptcy isn’t really the problem. Medical insolvency might be, but the two alternatives are not to receive treatment at all, or for the State to pay for it. The former is obviously worse, and the latter is arguably worse when looked at in toto.