Current Events > Forgive college debts? No thanks. How about medical debts?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Chances are that your medical bills are not your fault. It makes me sick that hospitals charge people $5000+ for an X-ray and peace of mind. I don't wanna hear that "hospitals are businesses" crap because they didn't used to be this way.

No human should be "owned" by the hospitals because they can't pay their unfair, insurmountable medical debts. People shouldn't be paying what they're paying for prescriptions. Obamacare' perks and benefits did NOT extend to everybody.

Part of what made me stop being a liberal were the screams to forgive college debt: a loan that an adult takes from a bank. Some people wanted the banks to get stuck paying for thousands of young adults to play around for another few years.

Why didn't the democrats make a bigger deal over this??

[I don't have any debts, for the record.]
---

forigigin--kresnik-- posted...

No human should be "owned" by the hospitals because they can't pay their unfair, insurmountable medical debts. People shouldn't be paying what they're paying for prescriptions. Obamacare' perks and benefits did NOT extend to everybody.

Life isn't fucking fair get over it, you can't just expect to get a pass on your debt because you're poor, if you can't afford a hospital visit don't freaking go.
---

So poor people should just die?

Thank God I'm Canadian
---

You can declare bankruptcy on medical debt, you can't on student loans
---

I Like Toast posted...

You can declare bankruptcy on medical debt, you can't on student loans

True, but that haunts you for life.
---

I Like Toast posted...

You can declare bankruptcy on medical debt, you can't on student loans

What's worse for your credit? Massive debt or bankruptcy?

redeadlink posted...

So poor people should just die?

Thank God I'm Canadian

Should they? No. Will they? Yes. Nothing we can do to prevent this it;s the price of freedom after all.
---

AlternativeFAQS posted...

What's worse for your credit? Massive debt or bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy resets your credit. If you had shit credit before, going bankrupt is awesome.
---

--kresnik-- posted...

I Like Toast posted...

You can declare bankruptcy on medical debt, you can't on student loans

True, but that haunts you for life.

For about 7 years then it's a non issue. My parents declared bankruptcy twice and still were able to buy a home by time I started 3rd grade. Which would be 8 or 9?

AlternativeFAQS posted...

What's worse for your credit? Massive debt or bankruptcy?

Depends on the debt and your income, ask a bankruptcy lawyer over me. I've done limited research into it since I don't intend on needing bankruptcy. I put my medical bills on my cc and paid them off over the last year and half.
---

tremain07 posted...

Should they? No. Will they? Yes

No. It was illegal before Obamacare to deny life saving procedures based on ability to pay.
---

I Like Toast posted...

tremain07 posted...

Should they? No. Will they? Yes

No. It was illegal before Obamacare to deny life saving procedures based on ability to pay.

True but if there are ways to prevent them from getting to a hospital in time then it's not their problem like say having ambulances prioritize specific areas in the city filled with wealthy and middle class and ignoring or paying very little attention to the lower income and slum like areas.
---

Sorry, I live in an actual first world country where we all pay a manageable extra bit of tax proportional to our earnings and everyone gets healthcare.

It's painful watching topics like this filled with people commenting on things they don't know shit about (except I like toast).

For reference Tremain there is a fucking shitload of people who are treated and have the full cost of their treatment absorbed by the hospitals due to being unable to pay their bills.

That's barely scratching the surface but it seems you weren't aware of even that.
---

--kresnik-- posted...

Part of what made me stop being a liberal were the screams to forgive college debt: a loan that an adult takes from a bank. Some people wanted the banks to get stuck paying for thousands of young adults to play around for another few years.

My problem with this train of logic is that, for the past few decades, culture has been very vocal about going to college. Youd have to go out of your way to search for alternative life paths and culture has done a fantastic job making job trades look like second class citizen jobs.

And given how a lot of universities are run for profit, Congress has passed a law to make it illegal to default on student debt years upon years ago, youre playing right into their hand by saying its someones fault they put themselves into student debt.
---

If student loan debt could be bankruptcy then you will likely see less private loans given out due to the higher risk factor.

And with how easy it is to get student loans also plays an affect with tution cost since colleges can charge more because students can just get loans. So this could also reduce tution costs in order to keep enrollment up.

And if that doesn't convince you. Private loans would also less likely go out to degrees with less potential to get a job since that would be a risky investment.
---

Toaster, the point I am making is that society is geared towards pushing people to take out student loans to go to college and be stuck paying loans for years upon years and banks are profiting off of this structurez
---

tremain07 posted...

True but if there are ways to prevent them from getting to a hospital in time then it's not their problem like say having ambulances prioritize specific areas in the city filled with wealthy and middle class and ignoring or paying very little attention to the lower income and slum like areas

No that's also illegal

Tmaster148 posted...

If student loan debt could be bankruptcy then you will likely see less private loans given out due to the higher risk factor

Good, those fuckers have the balls to charge 10% interest on loans as is. If you loans are protected from bankruptcy, your interest rates should be capped as well. Sad_Face posted...

Toaster, the point I am making is that society is geared towards pushing people to take out student loans

That's a problem as well, but I don't see how the government can tackle the problem. I think the next generation will learn from our mistakes. I don't see us trying to push college as much as our parents did on us.
---

--kresnik-- posted...

Why didn't the democrats make a bigger deal over this??

those damn Democrats and their refusal to do anything about health care in this country. thats why supporting the party that would privatize Oxygen if it was possible is in your best interest
---

I Like Toast posted...

That's a problem as well, but I don't see how the government can tackle the problem. I think the next generation will learn from our mistakes. I don't see us trying to push college as much as our parents did on us.

I was actually referring to Tmaster, either I flubbed or autocorrected flubbed for me. Government is part of the problem so I doubt they'd could tackle it.
---

What I don't like is we are required to have health insurance. What if you can't afford insurance, but never go to the doctor anyway? It should be your choice, not the governments since it is your health and your body. The tax for not having it is absolutely unfair. I'm going to be penalized for not having coverage for one month because I could not afford it since I went nearly 6 weeks without a paycheck and COBRA wanted 7 times the amount I used to pay for health insurance for the exact same coverage.
---

ProfDE posted...

What I don't like is we are required to have health insurance. What if you can't afford insurance, but never go to the doctor anyway? It should be your choice, not the governments since it is your health and your body. The tax for not having it is absolutely unfair. I'm going to be penalized for not having coverage for one month because I could not afford it since I went nearly 6 weeks without a paycheck and COBRA wanted 7 times the amount I used to pay for health insurance for the exact same coverage.

The whole point of the mandate was to help keep insurance costs lower, because forcing insurers to not decline people coverage meant they would be spending more money and thus would raise prices.

Without the mandate, young healthy people and poor people not in dire need of insurance will jump ship causing prices to increase for people who need it.

Although we really should move away from insurance for healthcare costs. It just doesn't make sense for something people will use eventually.
---

Tmaster148 posted...

ProfDE posted...

What I don't like is we are required to have health insurance. What if you can't afford insurance, but never go to the doctor anyway? It should be your choice, not the governments since it is your health and your body. The tax for not having it is absolutely unfair. I'm going to be penalized for not having coverage for one month because I could not afford it since I went nearly 6 weeks without a paycheck and COBRA wanted 7 times the amount I used to pay for health insurance for the exact same coverage.

The whole point of the mandate was to help keep insurance costs lower, because forcing insurers to not decline people coverage meant they would be spending more money and thus would raise prices.

Without the mandate, young healthy people and poor people not in dire need of insurance will jump ship causing prices to increase for people who need it.

Although we really should move away from insurance for healthcare costs. It just doesn't make sense for something people will use eventually.

The whole point of the mandate was to try and force people who didn't want or need insurance to end up paying for other people's insurance, they did it, and the cost of insurance KEPT GOING UP ANYWAY. I can't wait until the mandate is dead and I can buy a healthy person's catastrophic plan again.
---

Medical debt is like the easiest debt to ignore, though.
---

r4X0r posted...

The whole point of the mandate was to try and force people who didn't want or need insurance to end up paying for other people's insurance, they did it, and the cost of insurance KEPT GOING UP ANYWAY. I can't wait until the mandate is dead and I can buy a healthy person's catastrophic plan again.

First, of course they still went up. Health insurers were able to deny people for basically anything. The only reason insurances costs were lower before was, because insurance companies didn't have to pay out nearly as much. The ACA helps make sure insurance companies actually insure people instead of just taking free money and denying them later.

Second, premiums were rising before the ACA as well.

Third, you likely won't find a cheap plan after the mandate removal. The other parts of the ACA that force insurers to actually do the job they are meant to are still in place.
---

i think part of it might be the size?

https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2014/12/15/the-average-american-has-1766-in-overdue-medical-debt

so 42.9M people have medical debt, average debt is $1766 or total national medical debt of $75.8B.

https://www.debt.org/students/

Student loans however have $1.4T in debt. Larger amount of unsecured (though not ignorable) debt. So it is a large issue by a factor of 18.
---