In the US, how do people go bankrupt from medical bills when most insurance have a max out of pocket?

Question

Just was thinking about this the other day while looking at my insurance. How do people in the U.S. accumulate huge bills without hitting their max out of pockets? Are cancer treatments not usually covered by insurance? Are the doctors that provide the treatment just happening to be out of network?

I guess I’m wondering if there is anyway I can plan to not be in a situation of me or my husband rejecting treatment and dying or having huge medical bills cripple us. We’re relatively healthy now, but the future is near.

I’d like to understand better how it seems to be so *common* for people to not be covered by their out of pocket max.

Thanks.

In: 4623

Answer 1

I was bankrupt by medical bills because I didn’t have the good fortune of having insurance when I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 25. This is the issue with having medical insurance run through an employer.

Also, dont assume that just because an insurance policy has a maximum out of pocket expense that the covered individual has that amount of money disposable sitting in their bank account. Additionally, as you state in your question, that is not a feature of every insurance policy.

There are 30 million Americans with no health insurance coverage, that statistic alone should answer your question