Study Finds Patients Paying with Credit

According to a study by Demos, a nonpartisan public policy group, and The Access Project, a health care community action organization, medical expenses contributed to credit card debt for 29 percent of low- and middle-income households in 2005.

The culprit: insurance. Or, rather, the lack of insurance.

"If something happens to you, and you’ve got a big health care bill and maybe insurance that’s not comprehensive, then you’re looking at a lot of money that you’re on the hook for," Cindy Zeldin, co-author of the study, told the Argus Leader. "And if you can’t afford it, then what else are you going to do?"

A study by the Center for American Progress released last month showed that "the financial security of middle class families further deteriorated in 2005." From 2004 to 2005, the sharpest increase in economic risks facing middle class families came from rising medical costs, as the percentage of families with enough money to weather a medical emergency continued to drop.