Overwhelming medical or health-care expenses are the causes behind two-thirds of the individuals filing for bankruptcy protection in Maryland and across the nation. If you are contemplating bankruptcy because of medical reasons, you are joined by approximately 530,000 other families, as reported by CNBC.
It is not too surprising that 66.5% of personal bankruptcies are the result of taking time off from work for medical issues or the high costs of seeking uncovered health-care treatment. Researchers found that some employers provide inadequate health insurance that fails to provide the needed support for workers when they get sick.
Employees may also require time off to visit a doctor and sometimes need to take a leave of absence when it is necessary for extended medical treatments or surgery. Oftentimes, missing work for more than a week or two means that there is no paycheck to look forward to when needed.
A recent study revealed that only 40% of Americans could come up with $1,000 in the event of an emergency. The majority of individuals do not have enough cash savings to cover an unexpected car repair or a trip to the emergency room. Many individuals tend to rely on credit cards to cover some of their basic expenses, and there is usually not enough available credit left to make higher payments to cover an emergency.
Some other circumstances that may cause an individual to file a petition for bankruptcy include:
· Foreclosures
· High mortgage payments
· Spending beyond one’s means
· Helping relatives and friends out
· Making student loan payments
· Going through a divorce
When debt begins to interfere with an individual’s ability to carry on his or her everyday normal activities, bankruptcy may help in moving forward.
This information is provided for educational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as legal advice.
