Medical debt affects people from all walks of life, including the employed and unemployed, the insured and uninsured, and the young and old. Even those eligible for Medicare face medical debt. In California, where the joblessness and foreclosure rates are significantly higher than the rest of the country, medical debt is a very serious issue.

A number of factors contribute to medical debt, including the rising health care costs, a slowing economy and shrinking workforce. Since 2003, health care costs have risen faster than the U.S. economy as a whole.

In fact, one in five Americans said they had trouble paying medical bills in 2010, according to a new study released by the Center for Studying Health System Change. For that roughly 21 percent of Americans, the average medical debt per family was $6,500.

According to the study, 10.3 percent of people 65 years and older had financial problems from medical costs. Medical bills kept 66 percent of those surveyed from paying for necessities. And, about two-thirds of those struggling reported facing action from a collection agency.

The authors of the study said that the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should help relieve financial pressures from medical costs; however, they also noted that the financial burden would increase if health care costs continued to grow faster than real income.

If you are in medical debt, a bankruptcy attorney can explain your debt relief options, which may include filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection. Filing for bankruptcy does not affect your ability to receive medical care, and you can often keep your property.

Source: MedPage Today, "One in Five Struggles to Pay Medical Bills," Emily P. Walker, Dec. 29, 2011