Illness and medical bills caused half of the nearly 1.5 million personal bankruptcies in 2001—and more than three-quarters of bankruptcy claimers had health insurance at the start of their illness, according to researchers at Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School. The study, published as a Web exclusive in Health Affairs, estimates that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans annually, including about 700,000 children. Most of the medical bankruptcy filers were middle class. In news coverage, lead author Dr. David Himmelstein has said many Americans are "just one serious illness away from bankruptcy."

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