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For Immediate Release
July 27, 2009 |
Contact: Jonathan Godfrey
Lillian German |
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) today expressed dismay at the sharp rise in medical bankruptcies, which underscores the urgent need for health care reform. The Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing Tuesday, July 28th, to address this issue.
"The percentage of personal bankruptcies resulting from medical expenses has skyrocketed to 62%," said Conyers. "This is a more than 12 percent increase since the subcommittee held a hearing on this subject just two short years ago. This surge in medical bankruptcies demonstrates why health care reform is urgently needed right now. So many people’s lives are uprooted, and their financial security destroyed, by unexpected medical costs. We will conduct a subcommittee hearing on this subject on July 28th and I am pleased that Elizabeth Edwards has agreed to come testify alongside several medical bankruptcy experts."
The "Hearing on Medical Debt: Is Our Healthcare System Bankrupting Americans?" will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28th at 2141 Rayburn House Office Building. Additional witnesses will include Dr. Stephani Woolhandler, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Professor John Pottow of the University of Michigan Law School; and Dr. Aparna Mathur, Ph.D., Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
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