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How Obamacare Helped Slash Personal Bankruptcy by 50%
Time.com ^ | May 4, 2017 | Allen St. John

Posted on 05/05/2017 4:02:05 PM PDT by lowbridge

Filings have dropped about 50%, from 1,536,799 in 2010 to 770,846 in 2016 (see chart, below). Those years also represent the time frame when the ACA took effect. Although courts never ask people to declare why they’re filing, many bankruptcy and legal experts agree that medical bills had been a leading cause of personal bankruptcy before public healthcare coverage expanded under the ACA. Unlike other causes of debt, medical bills are often unexpected, involuntary, and large.

-snip

So did the rise of the ACA—which helped some 20 million more Americans get health insurance—cause the decline in bankruptcies?

The many experts we interviewed also pointed to two other contributing factors: an improving economy and changes to bankruptcy laws in 2005 that made it more difficult and costly to file. However, they almost all agreed that expanded health coverage played a major role in the marked, recent decline.

Some of the most important financial protections of the ACA apply to all consumers, whether they get their coverage through ACA exchanges or the private insurance marketplace. These provisions include mandated coverage for pre-existing conditions and, on most covered benefits, an end to annual and lifetime coverage caps. Aspects of the law, including provisions for young people to be covered by a family policy until age 26, went into effect in 2010 and 2011, before the full rollout of the ACA in 2014.

(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 0carenightmare; bankrupcy; obamacare
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1 posted on 05/05/2017 4:02:05 PM PDT by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

LOL!! everyone who COULD file bankruptcy, already did!!


2 posted on 05/05/2017 4:04:50 PM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Ann Archy

basically...


3 posted on 05/05/2017 4:05:50 PM PDT by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: Ann Archy
There was a huge increase in personal bankruptcy claims, right before the law changed, making it very difficult to claim after.

I know attorneys that had to diversify after the law went into effect because no one was filing.

4 posted on 05/05/2017 4:09:17 PM PDT by NativeSon ( Grease the floor with Crisco when I dance the Disco)
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To: lowbridge

Time magazine? Are they still in business? It’s been years since I’ve seen a copy in my dentist’s office.


5 posted on 05/05/2017 4:10:02 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Deplorables' Lives Matter)
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To: lowbridge
I call B.S.
They will have to look elsewhere for cause.

It was 3 years of take before any give.
During the 3 years of take, bankruptcies were already going down.

There was no OBAMACARE benefit until 2014 and high deductibles and high out of pocket and high premiums make their assertions even more unlikely.

6 posted on 05/05/2017 4:10:42 PM PDT by stylin19a (Terrorists - "just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there")
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To: lowbridge

Maybe that is just the folks getting big fat subsides are filing fewer bankruptcies. I know there a lot of cases where monthly premiums are $1000/ month and $12000 deductibles for young families. More fake news?


7 posted on 05/05/2017 4:12:40 PM PDT by antidemoncrat
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To: lowbridge

It was more about the recession than about Obamacare.


8 posted on 05/05/2017 4:13:17 PM PDT by Brilliant
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To: lowbridge

Desperate libs.


9 posted on 05/05/2017 4:14:42 PM PDT by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: Ann Archy

“courts never ask people to declare why they’re filing,”

In other words, we have no evidence.


10 posted on 05/05/2017 4:15:26 PM PDT by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: antidemoncrat

I don’t need to read this FAKENEWS to tell you this:

Bankruptcies SOARED in the 2008-2012 time frame because of the FINANCIAL/REAL ESTATE MELTDOWN. The fact that they went down in number from post-Depression historical highs in succeeding years was expected and has ZERO (0, like the president who signed it) to do with “Obamacare”.


11 posted on 05/05/2017 4:16:20 PM PDT by Simon Foxx
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To: All

Yeah, of course, it transferred the deficit spending to the Feds (taxpayers)...duh, Time!


12 posted on 05/05/2017 4:17:43 PM PDT by Drago
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To: lowbridge

Gee, TIME, what else happened prior to 2011 that may have contributed to a HUGE increase in bankruptcies that slowly declined over time. Let’s see ....


13 posted on 05/05/2017 4:23:17 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (It's not gun violence, it's thug violence)
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To: Drago

Another futile grasping at straws. Clever these con artists are.


14 posted on 05/05/2017 4:24:11 PM PDT by chief lee runamok
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To: lowbridge

Most O-care people get huge subsidies from Uncle Sugar.

Getting otners to assume your moral hazard reduces your costs and potential for bankruptcy! Who knew?

Of course, them U.S. is sliding toward bankruptcy due to these “entitlements,” but who cares?


15 posted on 05/05/2017 4:27:09 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Ann Archy

actually by kicking people on to state Medicaid, the government takes your house after you die.


16 posted on 05/05/2017 4:27:17 PM PDT by Chickensoup (Leftists today are speaking as if they plan to commence to commit genocide against conservatives.)
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To: lowbridge

I practice debtor-creditor and bankruptcy law and I don’t buy this explanation. Filings are down, but Obamacare doesn’t have much to do with it.

Bankruptcy filings spiked in 2005, just before the Bankruptcy Code changes went into effect, and then dropped sharply after that. Anyone who got a Chapter 7 discharge in 2005 was eligible to file again in 2013, but the expected repeat filings mostly didn’t happen.

I think the biggest reason is that consumer lenders and credit card companies are not as loose with credit as they used to be. It’s not unusual in my area for a credit card company to file suit on an unpaid debt of less than $1,000. They used to let borrowers run up much higher bills, and these were a huge driver of consumer bankruptcies. There are always people who file because of medical bills, but the proportion of those in my practice has remained steady since I started doing this work 13 years ago.


17 posted on 05/05/2017 4:38:12 PM PDT by Huntress ("Politicians exploit economic illiteracy." --Walter Williams)
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To: lowbridge

Effen Liars!

Here are the numbers for preceding years:

Year Chap 7 Chap 11. Total
2007 28,322 822,590 850,912

2006 19,695 597,965 617,660

2005 39,201 2,039,214 2,078,415

2004 34,317 1,563,145 1,597,462

2003 35,037 1,625,208 1,660,245

Explain those numbers and celebrate ObamaCare being the salve for everything

The all-time high occurred in 2005 with more than 2 million bankruptcy filings just before the federal bankruptcy law was reformed to make it more difficult for consumers to discharge their debt under Chapter 7 of the law. The reforms also increased debt payments required under Chapter 13 filings and eliminated some protections such as delaying housing evictions or delaying child support proceedings.

The vast majority of the 2007 filings — 822,590 of them — involved individuals. However, business bankruptcy cases also rose, jumping 44 percent to 28,322 filings, the court office said.

Source: Rueters
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSN155757020080416

Lyin Liars...


18 posted on 05/05/2017 4:40:36 PM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: lowbridge

LOL!!!
Those 2010 numbers had nothing to do with the bank meltdown and subprime debacle. Nope.


19 posted on 05/05/2017 4:41:58 PM PDT by moehoward
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To: lowbridge

And what actual event led to so many bankruptcies beginning in 2007?

The credit meltdown

The writers of this bull chit propoganda piece really are mini Leni Riefenstahls...


20 posted on 05/05/2017 4:42:51 PM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH-pk2vZG2M)
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