$88 billion of outstanding medical bills are currently in collections – affecting one in five Americans. My own academic research at Utah State University and that of University of Utah Economics Ph.D. Levi Pace revealed that medical bills were a major cause of personal bankruptcy filings in Utah. Similar research in other states confirm our…
Category: medical
Home Modifications Covered by Medicare and Medicaid
“Walk-in tubs, hospital beds and wheelchair ramps are among the many home modifications and devices keeping seniors safe. They don’t come cheap, but government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid can defray the cost.” “Medicare is extremely strict about what it covers, but seniors who show medical necessity qualify for up to 80% coverage. Seniors…
Get help paying for prescription drugs
“Consumers are powerless to control spiraling medication prices, but low-income, uninsured and under-insured individuals can often get help paying for their drugs. The help, in the form of subsidies or prescription price reductions, comes from four sources. The first is exclusively for seniors on Medicare, but the rest are available to everyone.”1. Medicare’s Extra Help…
Change in medical expense federal tax deduction for 2018
The threshold for claiming the medical-expense deduction is 7.5% of adjusted gross income for 2017 and 2018, potentially letting more people qualify. Sarah O’Brien explains A taxpayer with adjusted gross income of $50,000 would need a minimum of $3,750 in medical expenses to reach the temporary 7.5 percent threshold. That compares with $5,000 — $1,250…
Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies
With Republicans vowing to repeal (and replace?) the Affordable Care Act, the headline that “Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies” was no surprise to this researcher who devoted many years to the study of consumer bankruptcy. Dan Mangan wrote in 2013: “Bankruptcies resulting from unpaid medical bills will affect nearly 2 million…