re: #318 The Shadow Do

Bankrupcy can be a convenient safety net, particularly for those who have stacked up debt beyond just the medical. Bankruptcy will allow you to keep your house too, at least in the states I have lived in.

Bankruptcy numbers also aren’t accounting for the cost to people who wind up in collections and have a hard time getting a job or apartment.

I had emergency surgery without insurance. It cost me 18k. Even under a payment plan, it went to collections (the hospital I went to did their payment plan through an agency, so it was reported on my credit report as being “in collections” because the bill is due 30 days after you’re released, otherwise it goes to their agency to work out something.)

It also cost me almost twice what my insurance company paid when I had a more complex version of the same surgery 3 years later with insurance. The bill for that, with a 3-day stay was 11.5k. The first time, with no hospital stay and no follow up care was 18k.