Medical Bills Bankrupting Many.

[rvijay]

One important area to watchout for frugalites:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/02/national/main671145.shtml

[organica]

Thanks for that important link Vijay. I find it a disgrace that health care "providers" that people have to pay for do such a crappy job.
I am so thankful for Canadian Medicare.

[kirkjobsluder]

Yeah, with another bad diagnosis in front of me and still no insurance, I'm half expecting to be bankrupt by the end of the year.

[rvijay]

Oh ! I am very sorry to know this.

Vijay :(

[rvijay]

Another Important Article in This Regard:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050221&c=1&s=frosch

[kirkjobsluder]

Yeah. That article is scary because it describes my situation. My only hope is that charity from family and friends can help to keep us solvent. It really, really sucks. Even when I had insurance gaps in coverage left us with $3,000 we are slowly whittling down.

And it's not as if we are particularly wild spenders. We have no credit cards, a mortgage that if we run behind, we proactively make payment arangements, employed part time in school. If we can't pay the bills, we eat beans and rice for a month at a time.

The comment that medical emergencies are frequently coupled with an inability to work makes for a powerful double-whammy.