60% of bankruptcies!!!

... are at least in part due to medical expenses. wtf. the percentage is growing over time too. furthermore, "most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations." if you think about the people you know or maybe your own medical history, perhaps this isn't too surprising. but i believe it is wrong, don't you?
article in reuters
abstract in the american journal of health (and more if you have access to journals)

and if you haven't read atul gawande's piece on healthcare costs, you should. in it he makes a point that the medical community is being split: "..you come to realize that we are witnessing a battle for the soul of American medicine. Somewhere in the United States at this moment, a patient with chest pain, or a tumor, or a cough is seeing a doctor. And the damning question we have to ask is whether the doctor is set up to meet the needs of the patient, first and foremost, or to maximize revenue...." and the latter appears to be winning, even if there are shining examples of the former throughout the country (including the mayo clinic and seattle, compared to other cities).

he also points out that whether we go with public insurance or stick w/ private, the culture of medicine will need to be changed either way, but am i alone in thinking that it will need to be public for actual incentives to be in place to reduce costs across the country?