It could be you next.

[Jan Volkes]

The US health care system is responsible for at least 750,000 [3/4 of a million] people going bankrupt, that doesn't happen in any other country in the civilised world.
In todays US virtually every single American is one really bad day away from financial ruin, medical bills are the number one reason for bankruptcy in the United States?
Perhaps something you did not know is that the vast majority of people that go bankrupt due to medical bills actually have health insurance?

Read about it all here:
http://www.businessinsider.com/statistics-about-the-health-care-industry-2011-2?op=1&IR=T

 

[LionL]

It won't be me next because I live in the UK. Thank goodness for the NHS.

 

[NightHawkeye]

Noting that bankruptcy means one doesn't pay the medical bills. Bankruptcy exists for a reason.

Noting further that most people are in debt (mortgages and such) ... rather than having positive net worth.

 

[stamperben]

This is AMERICA!!! This is the land where it is OK to be one paycheck away from being homeless. It is the land where it is OK to be one medical emergency away from being financially ruined. Health care for all such as you have takes the pride of knowing we are actually helping the downtrodden insurance industry stave off their own financial ruin. We know what's best for them.

You Brits need to get over it.

 

[JustOneWay]

Noting that bankruptcy means one doesn't pay the medical bills. Bankruptcy exists for a reason.

Noting further that most people are in debt (mortgages and such) ... rather than having positive net worth.

Noting that republicans passed laws to make it harder to file bankruptcy. lol

 

[JustOneWay]

The US health care system is responsible for at least 750,000 [3/4 of a million] people going bankrupt, that doesn't happen in any other country in the civilised world.
In todays US virtually every single American is one really bad day away from financial ruin, medical bills are the number one reason for bankruptcy in the United States?
Perhaps something you did not know is that the vast majority of people that go bankrupt due to medical bills actually have health insurance?

Read about it all here:
http://www.businessinsider.com/statistics-about-the-health-care-industry-2011-2?op=1&IR=T

It really comes down to this. Greed is what drives America. Profits first in American healthcare, and caring of the people is second. Until that changes, people will die needlessly over profits.

 

[Jan Volkes]

This is AMERICA!!! This is the land where it is OK to be one paycheck away from being homeless. It is the land where it is OK to be one medical emergency away from being financially ruined. Health care for all such as you have takes the pride of knowing we are actually helping the downtrodden insurance industry stave off their own financial ruin. We know what's best for them.

You Brits need to get over it.

We're trying as hard as we can.

You can always come and live in the UK if you like, but I must warn you apart from having fun and going inside the pub by the fire in the winter and outside in the sunshine for about a week in the summer, popping over to the continent for the odd hen party or weekend away there's not much else to do, of course we do have real football, rugby, cricket, knitting, rowing and ice hockey, if you're not sporty we have some of the best libraries, museums and theatres in the world and castles!! don't get me started on castles there are hundreds of them, did I tell you that no where in the UK is further than 85 miles from the sea? we also drive on the proper side of the road which as you know is on the left with the steering wheel on the right, it's so easy to drive on the left even my husband can do it.
Another thing I think you would like is this, when you go shopping for food, clothes or anything the price you see is the price you pay, no state taxes or any other additions.

 

[Tallguy88]

MOD HAT ON

Thread has had a small cleanup. Please stay on topic.

MOD HAT OFF

 

[stamperben]

We're trying as hard as we can.

You can always come and live in the UK if you like, but I must warn you apart from having fun and going inside the pub by the fire in the winter and outside in the sunshine for about a week in the summer, popping over to the continent for the odd hen party or weekend away there's not much else to do, of course we do have real football, rugby, cricket, knitting, rowing and ice hockey, if you're not sporty we have some of the best libraries, museums and theatres in the world and castles!! don't get me started on castles there are hundreds of them, did I tell you that no where in the UK is further than 85 miles from the sea? we also drive on the proper side of the road which as you know is on the left with the steering wheel on the right, it's so easy to drive on the left even my husband can do it.
Another thing I think you would like is this, when you go shopping for food, clothes or anything the price you see is the price you pay, no state taxes or any other additions.

The only thing I'd have a problem with is trying to shift with my left hand.

 

[Jan Volkes]

The only thing I'd have a problem with is trying to shift with my left hand.

Then use an automatic????

An American astronaut once told a Russian astronaut how much the US had spent developing a pen that would write in zero gravity, the Russian said they had one but it hadn't cost them a penny, they called it a pencil.

 

[NightHawkeye]

The US health care system is responsible for at least 750,000 [3/4 of a million] people going bankrupt, that doesn't happen in any other country in the civilised world.
In todays US virtually every single American is one really bad day away from financial ruin, medical bills are the number one reason for bankruptcy in the United States?
Perhaps something you did not know is that the vast majority of people that go bankrupt due to medical bills actually have health insurance?

Read about it all here:
http://www.businessinsider.com/statistics-about-the-health-care-industry-2011-2?op=1&IR=T

OK ... since you brought up bankruptcy and financial ruin as the topic of the OP ...

Bankruptcy simply does not equate with financial ruin. Just ask Donald Trump, or Barack Obama. Most people have less than $100,000 in assets ... an amount easily exceeded if a serious medical condition is encountered. Fortunately, bankruptcy offers a way out and generally allows them to keep their houses and other valuable property.

Should I file for bankruptcy - FAQ

If I file for bankruptcy, can I keep my property?
If you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the answer is yes. In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you repay all or a portion of your debts through a repayment plan over a period of three to five years. In exchange, you may keep your property (including your car and home), assuming you keep up with payments on any loans secured by the property -- and keep making your repayment plan payments. ​

The premise of the OP is flawed. Bankruptcy due to high medical bills does not equate with financial ruin. One of my colleagues at work underwent bankruptcy a decade or so ago due to an inability to pay over $500,000 for his newborn baby's healthcare needs. He and his family survived and have done well since the bankruptcy which allowed them to discharge essentially all of the medical expenses.

 

[Jan Volkes]

The premise of the OP is flawed. Bankruptcy due to high medical bills does not equate with financial ruin. One of my colleagues at work underwent bankruptcy a decade or so ago due to an inability to pay over $500,000 for his newborn baby's healthcare needs. He and his family survived and have done well since the bankruptcy which allowed them to discharge essentially all of the medical expenses.

Where did they find the $500,000 and still have enough to live on? is that 1/2 million dollars?

 

[NightHawkeye]

Where did they find the $500,000? is that 1/2 million dollars?

It was discharged by the bankruptcy court. The hospital and physicians wrote it off.

 

[Cute Tink]

An American astronaut once told a Russian astronaut how much the US had spent developing a pen that would write in zero gravity, the Russian said they had one but it hadn't cost them a penny, they called it a pencil.

Just FYI, this is actually false. There are actually good reasons to not use pencils in space.

As to medical bills, having to pay out of pocket for medical care that your insurance doesn't cover (when it should especially) really sucks. I struggle, though, with the idea of using government regulation to try to improve everything.

 

[KarateCowboy]

The US health care system is responsible for at least 750,000 [3/4 of a million] people going bankrupt, that doesn't happen in any other country in the civilised world.

Well no, you don't see that in any other civilized country. You just see 100% of the country going bankrupt, like in Greece, where some 11 million people are now bankrupt.

 

[stamperben]

Just FYI, this is actually false. There are actually good reasons to not use pencils in space.

As to medical bills, having to pay out of pocket for medical care that your insurance doesn't cover (when it should especially) really sucks. I struggle, though, with the idea of using government regulation to try to improve everything.

The only government regulation needed to solve the problem of running out of money due to hospital costs (doesn't have to be bankruptcy necessarily) is a single payer system, perhaps Medicare for all. It's already in place and the ones who currently use it overwhelmingly like it.

As for using bankruptcy for those out of pocket expenses, that seems to me to be the wrong way of going about it. As it is for me, I make arrangements with the facility to make monthly payments.

 

[stamperben]

Well no, you don't see that in any other civilized country. You just see 100% of the country going bankrupt, like in Greece, where some 11 million people are now bankrupt.

Greece? Is that the best you can do? You missed Great Briton, Canada, France, the Scandinavian countries and other "civilized" countries. But then maybe you missed them because they aren't in the same situation as Greece, a situation that isn't only healthcare related.

 

[NightHawkeye]

As for using bankruptcy for those out of pocket expenses, that seems to me to be the wrong way of going about it. As it is for me, I make arrangements with the facility to make monthly payments.

My remembrance of what my colleague said about his experience is that he attempted to work out repayment directly with the hospital but that the hospital insisted on a payment schedule which was simply not workable.

He then chose bankruptcy and the hospital was forced to write off the debt as uncollectable.

 

[KarateCowboy]

Greece? Is that the best you can do? You missed Great Briton, Canada, France, the Scandinavian countries and other "civilized" countries. But then maybe you missed them because they aren't in the same situation as Greece, a situation that isn't only healthcare related.

France, Sweden, and the UK have had their own share of problems. For example, in the UK, old people being sent home, basically to die, while tax funds go for breast implants and sex changes. The reason I brought Greece into the spotlight is to point out the all-or-nothing nature of an expropriative system versus the gradients that we see in a free market. When they fail, they fail.

 

[stamperben]

My remembrance of what my colleague said about his experience is that he attempted to work out repayment directly with the hospital but that the hospital insisted on a payment schedule which was simply not workable.

He then chose bankruptcy and the hospital was forced to write off the debt as uncollectable.

Too bad for the hospital then, most will listen to reasonable offers.