Hypothetically, the housing market shouldn't have much to do with bad debt in healthcare. Unfortunately, many people have gotten in the habit of borrowing against their homes to pay for their expensive medical procedures.
Now, with many people barely able to make the mortgage, adjustable rate mortgages that are getting more expensive and quite a few people upside down because their house has lost so much value, some patients are being forced to decide between paying the mortgage or paying their medical bills.
So we can look for some bad debts to pop up in unexpected places, involving people who would have been good for the money, if the housing market hadn't gone south at just the wrong time.
To learn more about the interactions between healthcare finance and the housing market:
- read this Wall Street Journal piece