Profit! It’s All American. Investors, here is your next growth industry:

“Americans are using high-interest credit cards to pay for what should be a necessity,” said report co-author Mark Rukavina. “The health care safety net is made of plastic.”

Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, both of which have credit card operations in Delaware, wouldn’t comment on the report.

Americans are resorting to credit cards because health care costs are increasing faster than incomes, the report said.

“Over the past six years, health insurance premiums have increased by 73.8 percent while median income has grown by only 11.6 percent. A family health insurance policy is now equivalent to 18 percent of median family income, up from 8 percent in 1987.”

Sounds like it’s time to invest in some credit card companies.

One in five adults younger than 65 has outstanding medical bills, Rukavina said, and nearly two-thirds of those had health insurance when those bills were incurred.

“Many people are just an illness away from becoming medical debtors,” said Rukavina, who is executive director of The Access Project, an affiliate of the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.

High credit card bills make it difficult to buy a house or get ahead financially.

“Medical expenses are definitely one of the bigger issues when it comes to clearing up credit,” said Tracy Spriggs, a housing administer at First State Community Action Agency in Georgetown, who helps people improve their credit and buy their first homes.

About 70 percent of Spriggs’ clients have medical debt, she said. “It’s nothing to have $10,000 or $5,000 in medical bills.”

Nothing! Nothing at all. So don’t worry, the bankers have it all planned out for you.

Report co-author Cindy Zeldin said credit card debt could increase as financial service companies market an increasing array of health care products, including medical credit cards and lines of credit.

“The credit industry is viewing this as a potentially lucrative segment to add to their portfolio,” said Zeldin, director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos, a New York-based research and policy group.

Medical credit cards

To help combat the rising medical debt, the report recommended limiting the entry of medical providers into financial services and increasing governmental oversight of medical credit cards.

Such measures could have an impact on Delaware’s credit card operators.

Chase recently piloted a health care financing program in Chicago and Houston. The pilot program allows patients to set up a payment plan for procedures not covered by health insurance. But consumers who do not pay off the debt on time face an interest rate of 21.99 percent.

Chase spokesman Paul Hartwick said the program was not the same as the programs mentioned in the report.

“Our financing can only be used for elective medical procedures, such as cosmetic dentistry or plastic surgery, at certain providers.”

Bank of America recently teamed with Aetna and Caremark to offer special cards to the health care companies’ members.

The all-purpose cards include health-related rewards, such as points for exercise equipment.

Weinberger said the cards “create an incentive to live healthier lifestyles.”

As the comments note, the BK bill makes this plan a really great idea. Because, you know, “credit cards are a great safety net if people know how to use them.”

Update: Ian has more on making money off the sick. I’m telling you: this is where the profit is. And I don’t worry the Dems will do much to dampen that investment opportunity.