Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 90, Issue 3 , Pages 413-419 , March 2009

Personal Bankruptcy After Traumatic Brain or Spinal Cord Injury: The Role of Medical Debt

  • Annemarie Relyea-Chew, JD, MS

      Affiliations

    • Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    • Department of Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    • ,
  • William Hollingworth, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to William Hollingworth, PhD, Dept of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Canynge Hall, Bristol, BS8 2PR, UK.
    • ,
  • Leighton Chan, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
    • ,
  • Bryan A. Comstock, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    • Department of Center for Cost and Outcomes Research, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    • ,
  • Karen A. Overstreet, JD

      Affiliations

    • U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Washington, Seattle, WA
    • ,
  • Jeffrey G. Jarvik, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    • Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    • Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
    • Department of Center for Cost and Outcomes Research, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

  • Image Result

    Potential pathways between injury and personal bankruptcy. †Employer-sponsored health insurance.

    Potential pathways between injury and personal bankruptcy. †Employer-sponsored health insurance.

  • Image Result

    Medical debt as a proportion of all unsecured debt in patients with Medicaid (n=29) or commercial insurance (n=48) at the time of injury.

    Medical debt as a proportion of all unsecured debt in patients with Medicaid (n=29) or commercial insurance (n=48) at the time of injury.

 Supported by the Royalty Research Fund of the University of Washington and the intramural research program of the National Institutes of Health.

 No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.

 Reprints are not available from the author.

PII: S0003-9993(08)01633-X

doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2008.07.031

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 90, Issue 3 , Pages 413-419 , March 2009

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