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The Fraser Institute: U.S. Medical Bankruptcies a Myth; Personal Bankruptcy Rate Higher in Canada

The current debate about reforming U.S. health care policy has included suggestions that nearly two-thirds of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. result from uninsured medical expenses or loss of income due to illness. Advocates of socialized medicine argue that this would not occur if the U.S. adopted a government-run health system similar to Canada's.

But Brett Skinner, author of Health Insurance and Bankruptcy Rates in Canada and the United States and Fraser Institute director of bio-pharma, health and insurance policy research, says the evidence doesn't support the bankruptcy claim.

"If socialized medicine played a role in reducing personal bankruptcies, we would expect to see a lower rate of personal bankruptcy in Canada compared to the United States. Yet the reverse is true. The personal bankruptcy rate is actually higher in Canada than it is in the U.S.," he said.

Skinner compared bankruptcy data in the U.S. and Canada from 2006 and 2007, and found that personal (non-business) bankruptcy filings as a percentage of the population were 0.2 percent in the U.S. during 2006 and 0.27 percent in 2007. In Canada, the numbers are 0.3 percent in both 2006 and 2007. The complete study is available at www.fraseramerica.org.

"There is no evidence to support the idea that a government-run health care system in the U.S. will reduce personal bankruptcies," Skinner said.

"Bankruptcy and lack of health insurance coverage are both caused by the same thing: insufficient income, which is most often the result of unemployment. The majority of debt among bankrupt consumers in both America and Canada is composed of non-medical expenditures and therefore, has little to do with health insurance coverage."

The Fraser Institute is an independent research and educational organization with locations across North America and partnerships in more than 70 countries. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraseramerica.org

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The Fraser Institute
Brett Skinner, 416-363-6575, ext. 224
Director, Bio-Pharma, Health, and Insurance Policy Research
brett.skinner@fraserinstitute.org
or
Dean Pelkey, 604-714-4582
Director of Communications
dean.pelkey@fraserinstitute.org