Bankruptcy Law backfires on credit card issuers

MSN Money ^

[SDGOP]

An unprecedented spike in filings before reform took effect in fall 2005 is chewing into lenders' bottom lines, and the subsequent lull is showing signs of being short-lived. Bankruptcy attorneys say their caseloads are starting to pick up, and credit counseling agencies -- which provide now-mandatory sessions for consumers who want to file -- say they're seeing significantly more people than they initially predicted.

All this is raising questions about whether lenders will profit as much from the new bill as they hoped.Credit card interest out of control? Find a lower rate.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. The new law contains a “means test” that was supposed to steer higher-income filers toward repayment plans. Lenders expected a rush of consumers trying to beat the bankruptcy deadline, but nothing like the surge that actually occurred. More than 500,000 bankruptcy cases were filed in the two weeks before the law took effect, compared with a normal weekly volume of 30,000 to 35,000. So far this year more than 2 million cases have been filed, 49% more than the same period last year and eclipsing all previous records.

[A. Pole]

That is why firefighting services are publicly owned. Market would not work so well since setting the price at the time of fire would put one side at serious disadvantage. When you need urgent operation bargaining and shopping for lower price is not practical either.

[durasell]

Boutique medicine (also called "concierge care") is much more expensive than insurance. Retainer rates run from $1,500 to $2,500 a month and up, not including special services.

[Blackirish]

I heard when he found out he had a cow.

[durasell]

Ha!

But he eventually took the bull by the horns.

[MRMEAN]

Excellent post.

In addition the existence of health insurance, most especially government sponsored health insurance has allowed hospitals and medical professionals to increase charges far beyond what would have evolved in a market where the consumer was directly paying the expenses; and allows them to cross-subidize some patients at the expense of others.

When an uninsured patient enters the system, without a third-party picking up all or most of the tab, and without having that third party negotiate discounted rates, he is going to be financially eaten alive.