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To: RealMuLan who wrote (22709)	2/2/2005 5:11:05 PM
From: RealMuLan	Respond to of 116555

Medical bills spark 46% of U.S. personal bankruptcies: study Last Updated Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:14:41 EST CBC News BOSTON - Nearly half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are triggered by big medical bills racked up because of serious illnesses or accidents, a Harvard University study suggests. The study, published Wednesday in the online journal Health Affairs, looked at 1,771 people who had declared personal bankruptcy to seek court protection from creditors in five American states in 2001. Researchers from Harvard's law and medical schools later talked to 931 of them. They determined that medical bills or illness were either the main cause or a contributing factor in 46.2 per cent of the bankruptcies. "Even middle-class insured families often fall prey to financial catastrophe when sick," an abstract of the study noted. More than 43 million people in the United States have no health insurance. But even people who had health insurance through their employer were among those forced to declare bankruptcy in an effort to escape overwhelming debts that they could not pay, the study found. About 75 per cent of those who said medical bills triggered their bankruptcy had insurance coverage at the beginning of their illness. In 38 per cent of the cases studied, that insurance lapsed while they were still being treated, or covered only catastrophic illnesses and not more minor but ongoing conditions. Among the people whose medical bills contributed to their bankruptcy, the study said, "out-of-pocket costs average[d] $11,854 [US] since the start of illness." The study's authors said that when the national numbers were crunched, and the dependents of the filers were included, between 1.9 million and 2.2 Americans experienced "medical bankruptcy" in 2001. That figure includes 700,000 children. cbc.ca

To: RealMuLan who wrote (22709)	2/2/2005 10:00:20 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Detroit faces massive layoffs in 2005 City coffers run dry as tax revenue can’t keep up with expenses With the City of Detroit facing a financial crisis of staggering proportions, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is preparing for massive layoffs in the new year to plug a deficit that could surpass $360 million in the next six months. But it might not take six months for the ax to swing. If the City Council fails to pass a crucial bond measure when it returns from holiday break, the city would have to lay off as many as 2,000 workers, according to Detroit Auditor General Joe Harris. Population losses and the economic downturn have aggravated ever-declining tax revenues, and health care costs continue to skyrocket, creating an acute situation. The mayor has repeatedly promised not to cut police, fire and EMS workers. That leaves a pool of about 7,600 employees who could see their ranks cut by more than 25 percent. Cutting 2,000 of these water and sewerage, lighting, and building and engineering workers will have a devastating impact on city services. “We’re heading toward a real crisis,” says City Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel. “I don’t think it’s ever been this bad, and I don’t think people have any idea how serious the situation is.” In addition, the city finance department reported to the state that property tax collections declined by $21 million in 2002-03. And in the last two years, pension plan costs grew by $97 million, now comprising 11 percent of the city budget. “We’re going to hell in a handbasket,” says Auditor General Harris, who’s warned City Council for years that layoffs were needed because of Detroit’s shrinking income sources and increasing benefit costs. The city faces a major vote in January that could prompt an immediate layoff of as many as 2,000 workers and create an additional $112 million hole in the city’s budget, already gushing red ink. The City Council will decide whether to sell $1.2 billion in bonds to pay off the city’s pension account debt. The bond sale would generate $112 million for the city this year — money needed to pay a looming bill owed to the pension account. Income from the sale was included in this year’s budget adopted in June, and is necessary for the city to balance this year’s accounts. In normal circumstances, the city makes payments to its pension account every year — this year the city owes $112 million. But because the city doesn’t have $112 million to pay off the pension debt this year, it hopes, essentially, to borrow money from Wall Street to pay off the entire $1.2 billion. The bond sale would allow the city to reduce interest payments on the $1.2 billion debt from 7.8 percent to 5.8 percent for a total savings of $277 million over the 15 years, says Werdlow, the mayor’s finance director. metrotimes.com