Medical bills play a role in 62% of bankruptcies, study says Findings by Harvard researchers show that medical-related bankruptcies have increased from 55% in 2001. The report could boost Obama’s bid for healthcare reforms. By Lisa Girion June 4, 2009 President Obama’s push for healthcare reforms gets a boost today from a new study by Harvard University researchers that shows a sizable increase over six years in bankruptcies caused in part by ever-higher medical expenses. The study found that medical bills, plus related problems such as lost wages for the ill and their caregivers, contributed to 62% of all bankruptcies filed in 2007. On the campaign trail last year and in the White House this year, Obama had cited an earlier study by the same authors showing that such expenses played a part in 55% of bankruptcies in 2001. Medical insurance isn’t much help, either. About 78% of bankruptcy filers burdened by healthcare expenses were insured, according to the survey, to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine. ‘Health insurance is not a guarantee that illness won’t bankrupt you,’ said Steffie Woolhandler, one of the authors, a practicing physician and […]