Insurance

As the economy recession continues to drag on for years, the group of unemployed individuals and families only gets larger. One of the first cost that they are forced to cut is health insurance. Unemployed individuals simply cannot afford to pay for COBRA insurance while trying to live off of a small unemployment check. As they search for new employment, they find themselves gambling with the risk of having no medical insurance and can only hope that a medical emergency does not strike them.

This group of people is a group that typically cannot afford to pay for medical bills out of pocket so the hospital must write off the cost as a loss. This results in a the hospitals having to raise the cost of services on the insured group in order to be able to stay in business and operate at break even or profitable standards. Many think the unpaid medical bills are never paid, but that is not always the cost. Hard times are making hospitals look at unpaid bills, including ambulance charges as asset that they should be able to get some money from.

One state that is typically a first to act on any matter is the state of New York. Recently, it has been reported that New York City Fire Department sold off $150 million in unpaid debt that mostly resulted from the uninsured receiving ambulance rides from the GDNY. They are considering selling off an additional $50 million this year. Imagine if out of the $200 million, only 1% of the money was recovered. How many firemen, nurses and the like can be employed with that extra $2 million dollars per year. Furthermore, how many services could be improved and because of that how many lives could be saved? Collection agencies usually aren't the most popular businesses on the block but in some cases they are needed and the results they generate have positive results.

Many uninsured people will simply not pay the debt, regardless of how many times a debt collector calls and begs for money. But the fact is, a handful of people will start paying the debt even if it is only a small amount per month. In the current economy, every dollar counts and every job saved is a huge victory. As always, every life saved is the biggest victory of all.