I have met two people in my life with over $250,000 in medical debt. Both were under 30, and neither had a job paying over $15/hr. They each seemed to be doing alright but had accepted that the medical debt was something they would never pay off. They both still needed infrequent care, and one of them was still building his debt faster than his income could keep up with.
The two people should just leave the United States, start a life elsewhere. Argentina, Germany, Thailand, whatever.
I suggest the same thing to folks with unmanageable student loan debts with no clear answer in sight.
I think it's unfair for society to have burdened such debts on people who didn't know any better, who weren't equipped with the resources or the knowledge to make the right decisions. What do you do? Be 'unfair to society right back, don't pay, get away, start over again somewhere else.
Pretty much. Though, compared with how corporations are fucking over little people left and right, it's hardly unwarranted.
This is not an unfamiliar story. There are people who did everything right, were kind and philanthropic their entire life, more than they should have been probably, but they find their whole lives suddenly ruined with just one accident. There are supposed to be certain trade-offs in a society, when one agreed to a social contract that they'll be nice to everyone, be law-abiding, pay their taxes which in part fund medical research, fund creation of roads and infrastructure that enable corporations to function and rake in money, etc., they expected for the system to be there for them in return when they had a time of sudden misfortune. If it's not there, I say fuck it, this is then time they also stop playing nice.
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. - Anatole France
I didn't know what to think, and still don't.