Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

Now that the House of Representatives has passed its version of the law aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it is an important time for Chicagoland residents to look closely at the ways in which the ACA has had a positive impact not only on American healthcare, but also on consumer debt . As an article in Consumer Reports makes explicit, since the adoption of the ACA, “far fewer Americans have taken the extreme step of filing for personal bankruptcy.” Since the ACA took effect in 2010, American bankruptcy filings “dropped by about 50%, from 1,536,799 in 2010 to 770,846,” according to the article. Given that medical bills are among the leading causes of consumer bankruptcy across the U.S., some experts suggest that the decline in filings could in fact be causally related to the passage of the ACA. What else do you need to know about this connection, and how could a new law result in a surge in personal bankruptcy filings? Previously Uninsur...

Can health insurance limit medical debt and help Chicago residents to avoid personal bankruptcy ? While it might seem logical to assume that having health insurance can greatly reduce the amount of medical debt a person owes, and thus make the likelihood of having to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy less likely, this may not be the case for numerous Americans. According to a recent report from ABC News , the Kaiser Family Foundation released data showing that “an increasing share of Americans find it difficult to pay for health services even if they have insurance.” Health services are among the leading causes of consumer bankruptcy in the country. An article from CNBC indicated that around two million people file for bankruptcy each year as a result of unpaid medical bills, and that high numbers makes “health care the No. 1 cause of such filings, and outpacing bankruptcies due to credit-card bills or unpaid mortgages.” If health insurance is not making a sufficient differ...