Medical costs make most people go bankrupt in US

Almost two-thirds of people who went bankrupt in the US were pushed into financial ruin by medical expenses, the US Ambassador to Malta, Douglas Kmiec said.

Moreover, although the US, one of the most affluent countries in the world, spends 17 per cent of its GDP on healthcare, it still lags behind in a number of healthcare rankings, even placing 38th when it comes to life expectancy.

A lot of this is being blamed on the US's medical insurance system, which leaves about 43 million Americans without healthcare apart from what they get in the emergency room when they are in dire need.

Speaking during a debate at Mater Dei Hospital's Medical School on Tuesday, Prof. Kmiec pointed out that the cost of healthcare spiralled threefold when it was given in the emergency room.

Health Information and Res-earch Department director Neville Calleja said that catching a problem early was imperative.

"If people in low social classes do not have access to healthcare, they will not seek help until their condition becomes acute and very expensive to manage," he said. Prof. Kmiec said Malta had a lot to teach his homeland about universal healthcare, an electoral promise of US President Barack Obama who wants to reform the present insurance-based system.

In a speech delivered last month, Mr Obama said his mother, who died of ovarian cancer, spent her last days battling with insurance companies to reimburse her bills.

"What would have happened if I did not have reliable healthcare," Mr Obama asked as he related an asthma attack and a bout of meningitis that his two daughters suffered.

The US President's proposal is to increase income tax on people making more than $200,000 a year to supply insurance to those earning less than $80,000. It costs a family of four about $12,000 annually to pay for health insurance.

Julian Mamo, head of the University's Public Health Department, said healthcare in Malta had always been very hospital-oriented, although a rudimentary form of community care was introduced in the early 19th century.