The coronavirus spreading in China has got the financial markets across the world rattled. But the experiences before such outbreaks indicate that the financial markets bounce back pretty quickly. The coronavirus treatment is likely to set back more than half the American households that have $4500 or less in saving.
Medical and Insurance Related Effects of Coronavirus on Americans
The coronavirus epidemic is putting the average American’s financial and physical health under pressure. The death rate of the virus is progressively getting lower as the virus is not lethal for most people. However, it is severely affecting the savings of the common man in the US who is struggling to keep up with medical costs. Any trips to the ER for treating or diagnosing coronavirus sets them back by thousands of dollars and may drive them to bankruptcy. However, avoiding the treatment because of financial reasons can increase the spread of the disease. The procedures that are necessary for the treatment of coronavirus may range from $441 to $1151 concerning an out-of-network visit to the ER.
According to a recently published report by the CDC, there are 27 million American citizens out there who do not have insurance. This constitutes to 8.5% of the American population. Out of those, for people aged between 18 and 65, 28% have trouble paying for their medical bills. These stats are for the past year. However, this percentage drops to 18% for Medicare and 11% for people having private insurance.
The problem is that when your in-network facility is at capacity, it will push you towards an out-of-network facility and the billing for the coronavirus treatment can exceed $10,000 in such cases. However, some insurance plans may cover the out-of-network facilities and some of these costs could get covered. Another report indicates that more than a quarter of American adults has put off their health care visits due to their finances.
Coronavirus and bankruptcy
What is the connection between bankruptcy and coronavirus? Although there is no direct relation the bankruptcy system will be tested as the US citizen are being assisted and are recovering from the fallout caused by a coronavirus. Dow Jones has dropped by 12% in the past few weeks and is likely to drop further. It may drop below 16000 before the year is out.
If someone falls behind on the car or house payments due to the layoffs as a result of coronavirus chapter 13 will be a great tool to catch up with these payments. For instance, if a person misses out on 3 months of work due to either sickness or layoffs he or she can benefit from the provisions of chapter 13. In some states, a mortgage company can begin foreclosure after just the single mortgage payment. But in all cases, the mortgage companies will wait for at least three months. They will be forced to advertise the house according to the foreclosure section of the law in the county. This ad will have to appear for 4 weeks in most cases before the date of foreclosure. This allows the person to develop a plan for catching up with the house payments and stop the foreclosure.
Similar measures can be taken about the cars when a person is threatened due to car repossession. The provisions of chapter 13 will stop the repo and allow the person to pay for the car with a plan. When a person is overloaded with medical bills the chapter 7 can be an option. All your unsecured debt can be eliminated when you declare bankruptcy under chapter 7.
Conclusion
The strongest driver to the bankruptcy filing in the US is likely to be medical debt as stated by a lawyer to the Business Insider. The emergencies that are compounded by situations such as coronavirus can lead to out-of-network treatment and this may lead to bankruptcy. Even when you have a steady income the emergency medical bills that will come up due to coronavirus treatment can lead up to thousands of dollars and this is a struggle to tackle.
Various studies differ on how many bankruptcies happen due to medical costs but they fall between the ranges of 26% to 67% of all bankruptcies. Statistical debate apart from the healthcare for coronavirus will lead to setting back the pockets of the average American citizen. For a better understanding of the situation, you can contact The Weller Legal Group especially if you are living in the Tampa area in Florida. The firm has helped people in bankruptcy claims since 1993.
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