Ray Kluender, Columnist

The Worst Part About Getting Sick Isn’t Medical Bills

Lost income dwarfs health-care costs and most workers lack protection against disability.

October 8, 2019 at 11:30 AM UTC

Ray Kluender is an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, where he researches the causes of financial distress among American households.

What comes after hurts more.
Photographer: Boris Horvath/AFP/Getty Images

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Speaking at the signing ceremony for Medicare in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared:

Since then, Medicare has proven to be a transformative program for insuring elderly Americans against the risk of illness and injury. This success has contributed to a growing effort to extend the program to all Americans, most of whom now get health insurance from their employers.