The High Cost of Being Healthy

For years, people have been complaining about the high cost of health care and said they are fearful about being only a job away from medical bankruptcy.

With unemployment increasing we now see this concern coming true. Sandra Boodman, a former Post reporter who now works for the Kaiser Health News Service, reports that the rising cost of care and the waning economy are driving more people deep into medical debt. One couple she highlights in the story "Seeing Red" (Jan. 13) has $100,000 in medical bills.

"For years a booming economy camouflaged the burden of medical debt," Boodman wrties. "Patients borrowed against their homes or whipped out credit cards, including some specially designed to pay medical or dental bills. But falling house prices and tightening credit have eliminated those options for many."

As people try to find ways to afford health care, perhaps this industry isn't as recession-proof as some believe, writes Slate's Daniel Gross in "The Botox Bubble" (Jan. 9).

"In this age of consumer-driven health care, will Americans react like retail consumers-switching aggressively to generic drugs and shopping around for cheaper doctors? Or will they act like car buyers-reducing their purchases of health care, avoiding doctors, and letting prescriptions go unfilled?"

One way to cut your health care costs is to live healthy, suggests Kiplinger's Laura Cohn in "It Pays to Stay in Good Shape" (Dec. 2008).

But here's another side of living better and staying alive -- you'll have to pay more to live longer, writes The Post health and science reporter David Brown in "We All Want Longer, Healthier Lives. But It's Going to Cost Us."

Brown reports that Americans spend a little less than 10 percent of their income on food, which is down from 25 percent in 1930. We spend twice as much -- 21 percent -- on shelter. Last year, 16 percent of the nation's gross domestic product went for health care. If health care costs grow at its present rate through the first three-quarters of this century, it will consume 38 percent of the GDP by 2075.

Brown writes: "We are on a collision course between our wish to live longer, healthier lives and our capacity to pay for that wish. Whether we can somehow avoid the collision is perhaps the most important domestic issue of this century. From now on, health care costs will be up there with globalization, terrorism and climate change as a force shaping our world."

I don't know about you, but I'm completely depressed now. Hopeful, but still down.

So, Let's Chat Today

Join me today at Noon ET to discuss your personal finance issues. Or you can just vent about the sad state of our economy.

Do you think Congress should release the remaining $350 billion in bailout money? Top officials at the Federal Reserve think so, as reported yesterday in "Fed Backs Obama's Bailout Request." Now officials want to go back to the original plan to buy up troubled assets.

I cheered after Allan Sloan wrote this week in his column "Here's How It Could Have Been Worse" (Jan. 13). Sloan believes (just as I've said all along) that President Bush's proposed Social Security privatization program would have been disastrous.

"I'm a big fan of individual initiative and saving -- but a year like 2008 gives you an idea of how risky investing can be," Sloan wrote. He goes on to say, "It's fine for you to take market and timing risks if your basic retirement needs are already being met with your own sources of income. It's another thing to have to take those risks with your eating money, which is what Social Security represents for perhaps two-thirds of retirement beneficiaries."

What are your saving stories? Share them with me today. It seems America may be back on the track to save more thanks to the recession, reports Post business reporters Annys Shin and Nancy Trejos in "America Hunkers Down: A Nation of Savers?" (Jan. 13)

If you can't join me live, read the transcript.

Working It Out

In last week's e-letter, I wrote about a letter written to Slate's Dear Prudence.

A grocery store clerk was wrestling with customer and colleague questions about why he's bagging groceries with a college degree.

The letter made me wonder if others were employed at jobs that weren't satisfying just so they could maintain an income. Here's what some of you wrote:

M. Johnson of Orinda, Calif., says that like the grocery store clerk, he was passed over for a job because he was overqualified and they were fearful he'd resign for another opportunity.

"But more alarming is why they wouldn't bring me on and then hope to create something for me where I could continue to add significant value to the enterprise far beyond my cost to them. Shortsightedness? In this market? Unfortunately," Orinda wrote.

Teacher Ben James from Arlington, Va., said he's "content to have a job that I enjoy, even if it feels like it controls my life at times."

One Maryland reader, who asked that her name not be used, said that she can "identify completely with the grocery store clerk." She graduated from a top school and took a fellowship that paid $26,000.

"I loved my job, but I would often skip meals just to make sure I was making my bills," she wrote. "I found work at a high-end retail store in sales and actually make significantly more than before. But I still get asked all the time why I'm not using my degree or what I'm doing there. Sometimes I feel like responding, 'I enjoy eating lunch.'"

Joseph Zairo of Pa., puts it all in perspective: "I get up at 4:30 a.m. and as I am getting ready for work I think about and plan for the day. I try to make things interesting. Work is work."

An Odd Job Here and There

An increasing number of people are taking on extra jobs to help make ends meet according to a Pew Research Center survey. Twenty-four percent of the 2,413 adults surveyed said they or someone in their household has taken an extra job because of economic troubles.

Nancy Trejos's article "More Than a Day Job" (Jan. 4) offers advice on finding part-time work. She says if you love to shop, get a job with your favorite retailer or if you enjoy cooking, offer to cook for co-workers for a fee. The story also suggested tutoring students or bartending. Read tthe story for more tips.

Also, if you think your job is 100 percent secure, think again. However, there are steps you can take to reduce your chances of being laid off in a bad economy. washingtonpost.com's Maureen McCarty highlights a few of those steps from Laurence Shatkin's book "150 Recession Proof Jobs," as part of the Post's annual Mega Jobs section.

You may remember Shatkin's book was November's Color of Money Book Club selection.

Refinancing Scramble

If you're trying to refinance now you may get a busy signal when you call a lender. Of the total mortgage applications submitted, roughly 80 percent are refinancing requests. The deluge of refinance applications has lenders swamped. Some homeowners are being told that they would have to wait two weeks for a call back reports The Post real estate reporter Dina ElBoghdady in "Lenders Backlogged By Refinancing Rush" (Jan. 9).

If you're fortunate enough to have some extra money should you just pay off your mortgage? Kiplinger's personal finance contributor Kimberly Lankford offers the upside and downside of paying down what, for many people, is their largest expense. Read what she suggest in "Paying Down Mortgage Faster Can Make Sense - Sometimes" (Jan. 11).

You are welcome to e-mail comments and questions to singletarym@washpost.com. Please include your name and hometown; your comments may be used in a future column or newsletter unless otherwise requested.

Charity Brown contributed to this e-letter.