Medical bills--devastating and destructive, with or without insurance

The next time you find yourself thinking that your employer-based health insurance is going to save you from ruin if a tragic illness strikes you or your family, think again. Part VI in the New York Times’ series about "Being a Patient" in American debunks that notion that health insurance is necessarily insurance against medically caused bankruptcy (which, in itself, has become harder for middle class Americans to declare).
“When Health Insurance is Not a Safeguard” is, like the rest of the series, well worth reading.

And for a disturbing supplement to this article, I am linking you to Health Advocacy graduate Lin Osborn’s blog on her client who had no health insurance, and was therefore billed “retail” for what insurance providers—public and private—get at a discount. Lin's health insurance advocacy service, Health Plan Navigator, was mentioned in “Treated for Illness, Then Lost in Labyrinth of Bills.” Read her piece on “Making a Hospital Squirm.”