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Does anyone think that it is worth filing for bankruptcy just over past medical bills alone?
I just read a Harvard study that stated that over half of all bankruptcy filings were due to past medical bills. The even crazier part to it is that of all of those, over 70% thought they had good medical insurance!
Hi andyth,
I'm sure people do it everyday. Now it does hurt you credit for about 10 years so it is a big step to take. But bankruptcy is suppose to give you a new start and wipe the slate clean of any debt you cannot afford. So if you are thinking about doing that I would do all the bills you cannot afford not just medical. But if you can do a debt consolidation of all your debt that would be the best move.
If you can not possibly afford to pay these bills and depending upon the amount then it may be worth it. Did you check with the hospitol and see if they had any programs in place to help you pay these bills? Around here we have programs like I-care and hillburton that will step in and pay the bills if you can not afford them. Of course it goes by your income. If they are not really high you could also just send them $10.00 a month per bill and this is usually enough to keep them from going to collections. I have had to do this in the past. I know these bills can add up quickly.
Yes fireyone I forgot about that we have that here as well but it is called charity care. They actually paid most of my mri I had to have and I didn't have insurance. And another thing we have is medkey which is like a credit card for medical bills. I have had to use that a few times. But they do have a limit and it's based on your income. But you submit all your medical bills to the and they pay it for you. And you pay them once a month it's really pretty handy since I have a pre existing condition and cannot afford insurance. Now they charge interest but its like 5.99%. Just an idea
Wow, that is cool that they have a lower intrest rate, don't hear of that too often, usually once people are in a situation that they can't control and some company comes into help them out, they rack up the intrest to make the bucks.
Sounds like this is a pretty descent company.
I know it has really helped me out when me or my son needs to go to the doctor and I don't have cash and the payment is like 20.00 a month. But that's better than 800.00 a month for insurance with no job who can afford that and then they don't cover my pre existing condition and probably wont cover it since I take a narcotic for pain. I know some didn't want the health care bill past but people like me did. The insurance would have cost me my house so that forced me to have to make a decision between the two. And I'm sure I'm not alone. But you cannot rent anything here cheaper than my house payment so it would have been stupid to give up the house and rent and still not be able to afford the insurance.
You are right, never sell your home if at all possible, I thank you for sharing this information with us, hopefully it will help someone who is in the same situation with their medical bills, they can be so costly and it is not something that you can ignore. Thanks again for sharing this information.