Poverty -- Bankruptcy

A survey of bankruptcy clinics in the Capital District found that 65 percent of respondents had medical-related debt. Of those, the vast majority were women (90%) and were currently employed (68%), and almost half had health insurance. More than half of the respondents reported delays in obtaining further medical care and difficulty obtaining loans and credit as a result of their health-care-related debt. Advocates call for health system reform that addresses costs as well as access to insurance.

This blog is participating in Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. The aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion: this year the issue is poverty. Between now and October 15, we will be posting about poverty in our diocese, with material provided by Catholic Charities in its report Poverty in the Diocese of Albany: A Threat to the Common Good. The report, and additional information, is available here.