Illness threatens families already in debt

BOSTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A professor at Boston's Harvard Medical School says high medical bills can push families already managing debt into bankruptcy.

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, who co-wrote a paper on medical bankruptcy for the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, told The Washington Post a family that is just getting by can be pushed over the edge if illness strikes.

"The way people get in trouble is they have substantial debt they're managing, they're paying mortgages and paying off credit card balances but they're managing. Then a shock occurs," Woolhandler said.

She said the shock can take the form of higher bills and loss of work because of illness.

"In bankruptcy, in about half of those cases, that shock is a medical shock," Woolhandler said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told a recent news conference the government has no idea "how many mortgages were foreclosed because people were crowded out by medical issues."