In researching articles for the Primary Health thread I came across this research about the US which I found fascinating.

Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92% of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5000, or 10% of pretax family income. The rest met criteria for medical bankruptcy because they had lost significant income due to illness or mortgaged a home to pay medical bills. Most medical debtors were well educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations. Three quarters had health insurance.

The study I quote from was published in the American Journal of Medicine.

So in the country that does not want universal health care (because of scares such as "death panels"), over 60% of bankruptcies were attributed to medical debts! Even with health insurance in the US, you can still end up bankrupt.

Another case of fact being stranger than fiction.