Have you ever thought about what would happen if you became ill, lost your job and your health insurance, and couldn't get another job? Every year this happens to millions of Americans, with dire consequences, and it doesn't have to be a major heart attack or cancer to lead you to the poorhouse.

Few employers can afford to keep paying an absent employee for more than a few weeks after the employee has used up their available sick time and vacation. The employee is then let go, and their financial problems, which are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States, begin. Employees who lose their jobs can get government-mandated health insurance coverage through COBRA for up to 18 to 36 months, but many cannot afford the high cost of COBRA, or their COBRA coverage runs out while they are still sick.

Once you lose your employer-sponsored health insurance your nightmare has begun. Not only are you going to have to worry about how to pay for healthcare, you are also going to have to worry about how to get good healthcare. Many medical providers refuse to schedule an appointment for people without health insurance, and those who do agree to see you will typically charge from 150 to 500 percent of what they would have charged you or your insurance carrier had you had health insurance.

Up to 1 million mostly middle- and upper-middle-class families file bankruptcy each year due to medical bills they can't pay—yet amazingly, three-quarters of these families had health insurance when they first became ill. A family bankruptcy typically affects three individuals and lasts for seven years—meaning up to 21 million people, including children, are living in economic purgatory at any given time due to failed health insurance.

• Three-fourths of the medically bankrupt had health insurance at the beginning of their illness.
• The majority of the medically bankrupt owned their own homes and had attended college.

Many people filing medical bankruptcy were middle-class workers with health insurance who were unable to pay their co-payments, deductibles, and exclusions in the employer-sponsored health insurance plan.

New Health Insurance Solutions for individuals, families, self-employeds, and businesses.

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