Major Illness and Financial Disaster: How Close Is the Connection?

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HCFO April Findings Brief.pdf

Do the uninsured near elderly experience a significant loss in personal wealth when they experience an adverse health event compared to the insured near elderly? David Dranove, Ph.D., professor at Northwestern University, and colleagues compared the financial experience of insured and uninsured individuals who suffer a major illness and found that uninsured, near-elderly individuals who suffer a new, major illness lose between one-third and one-half of their assets to medical expenses.