Mobile, AL Law Firm Helps Bankruptcy Clients Facing Mountains of Medical Debt

Alabama Bankruptcy Lawyers Focus on Debt Relief Solutions

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law in 2010, it promised many benefits for American healthcare consumers, such as:

• Expanded access to affordable health care
• No more exclusions forbidding coverage for certain individuals with preexisting medical conditions
• The ability for young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies through age 26, if they choose to do so
• Medicaid expansion to provide coverage for more low-income Americans

But one lesser-known benefit that the law has also provided is a marked reduction in the number of personal bankruptcies filed annually in the U.S. Although bankruptcy courts don’t typically ask people to explain why they are filing for bankruptcy, bankruptcy experts agree that outstanding medical bills were a leading cause of bankruptcy filings before healthcare coverage was expanded under the ACA.

According to the National Health Interview Survey conducted annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of consumers under age 65 who said they had problems paying off their medical bills in the previous year has dropped every year since 2011, falling from 21.3 percent of households surveyed in 2011 to 16.2 percent in 2016.

However, the ACA has far from eliminated medical bankruptcy. According to one poll, even those with health insurance are still struggling to pay medical bills. Twenty-six percent of survey participants said that health care expenses have seriously affected their families’ finances, causing seven percent to file for bankruptcy.

Contact a Competent Mobile, Alabama Medical Debt Bankruptcy Law Firm

Are you facing insurmountable medical debt and considering filing bankruptcy to get out from under it? Contact the experienced bankruptcy lawyers at the Bond and Botes Law Offices online or call 1-877-581-3396 to discuss your options today.