[comment removed by moderator]

Did you read the original post? Ugh, you should be banned for that reply.

Idiot....

Moderator??

Your health is the most important thing you have and it's great news you made it through!

Holy Christ. Yeah still that seems bannable. Be a human for the love of Pete.

Azmodeus way to be practical in a ridiculous situation. IANAL so I do t want to give you bad advice but my mother in law declared, and it took a huge weight off. Gotta love healthcare in this country.

I had a friend who had a sick child and even with insurance ended up owing something like $500k plus. She filed and was buying a new home within 18 months. She made good money, but being divorced and with a mountain of medical debt I don't think she could've ever made it. Worked out in her case.

I have no experience with this, but it seems to me that you might want to try to find a bankruptcy lawyer. Maybe someone specializing in medical debt.

I wish I had some good advice to give, but absent that, I agree w/ ForceFlow's comments above. Talk to good bankruptcy lawyer / specialist. Also, I'm glad to hear you're doing better now, health-wise. Hope it all turns out OK for you.

I definitely wouldn't be looking for advice for something as serious as this on a pinball forum.

I agree with the others that the best advice someone could give a person in your situation would be to see a lawyer that specializes in bankruptcy law.

You don't want just anyone steering you in the wrong direction.

http://bankruptcyresources.org/
Click "Other Resources"
http://bankruptcyresources.org/content/other-resources

This will provide better information than PinSide to redirect you, prior to going to local sources, as even during consultations lawyers can hit you with their fees even before you talk to them.
I am not a particular fan of their "disclaimers".

I am sorry for your issues. As we get older, which we all are, health is so much more a consideration then it was in our younger years. I understand you problems, and I don't have any more advice when what little you were given here, but I wish you that things work out the best they possibly can.

Very sorry to hear, the links The BlackKnight posted should get you started. It looks like you are in CA, my guess is that they have some great resources available.

I am pretty tired, but I think this is the link for CA

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/misc/933C.pdf

Close your bank accounts asap. Cash your paychecks. If credit companies are sueing you....and take you to court....they typically win judgement and expect monthly payments. If you do not make the monthly payment....they will seize whatever funds in your bank account. Lost 4k that way

Your health is most important as others mentioned. Anything you sell/liquidate to survive.....I promise you....you will get it back in time. Also, dont worry about your credit right now....it will rebuild. Ive gone thru this....and its no fun. I had a personal business that failed 9 years ago. Keep your chin up....and find a reasonably priced attorney. Also, keep any documentation of people you owe money to. The lawyer will want to see this.

Get an attorney that seems fair as soon as possible refer everything and everyone to your attorney.
Get rested up.

Once you lawyer up everyone will leave you alone. You dont have to deal with it alone.

When I did it, my attorney saved my sanity and really helped me out.

Have no experience whatsoever with this but have had a couple of acquaintenances that went through the heavy burden of enormous medical expenses. Nearly everyone has suggested seeking legal counsel, specialized in this field. I concur. The most important thing you can do right now is follow a path that will put you on the road towards good health, both physically & mentally. The stress of this type of financial burden can indeed effect ones physical health. Realize that in life one cannot chose what types of physical infirmities may occur. Be thankful you have survived a very serious life threatening occurence. Be positive and go forward.

Man, I feel for you. I've been knocked down so many times by unexpected expenses that it's hard to get back up sometimes and I don't wonder if bankruptcy would save me a lot of unnecessary headache. Unfortunately, I have this ethical thing that gnaws at the back of my head about paying my debts. It's nothing like 500k, but I have a secondary friend that just spent a week in ICU and a few days in a rehab facility due to blood clots and sepsis plus undiagnosed horrific diabetes...I wonder what he's going to do to handle it. There's no way he can pay it all..... JUST the bill from the hospital itself was over 400k...

I hate this country.

.

This disgusts me. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

I wish you the best with your situation,and if you ever want to come over to my house and escape through some pinball let me know. My gameroom is open to you if you are ever my way. Best of luck with everything.

How is your Spanish? Flip a coin, South or North. If you move North you will need to buy a Jacket and boots.

I would go north, great people up there.

Don't hate your country.

Hate the politicians who are paid off by the insurance companies, to ensure you are stuck paying 6x more than the rest of the world, for inferior health care.

If you read Frax's post. I think he meant that he hates the health care industry. I'm supposed to start paying into this system about $275 a month for really shitty insurance. It's almost like I'm forced to make the car payment for someone else in the health care industry.

I spent most of July and August in the hospital and rehab when I had a stroke last year and then in December had heart surgery. I was very fortunate that my insurance and Medicare paid all my bills.

I was also lucky that my son took care of all of my financials while I was still having trouble thinking straight. Strokes really mess up your brain. Now if I could only remember to turn things like my faucets off when I stop using them my water bill was high last month.

Good luck with your finances.

My health insurance is covered by my employer but it has gotten progressively worse in the past ten years and I know that what my employer is paying for this shitty insurance has risen greatly in that same time frame . I had been paying for my wife and daughter's insurance from seperate companies , and thought I would look into adding them to my plan 2 years ago . To add them to my plan I would have to pay $1,300 a month . I currently must reach an amount of $2,500 spent on health care out of my pocket each year before my insurance company would pay a single dime for anything . Adding my wife and daughter to that plan doubled that amount to $5,000 out of pocket , and even when the insurance company would start paying when that amount is reached they would only cover up to 80% on most others only up to 50% . That would mean I would spend $18,600 each year before my insuance company would pay anything for anyone in my family and at that point it is only 50-80 percent . What a fucking joke , it is no wonder why we constantly hear of situations like this where someone is burried in medical expenses and have really no other option but to file bankruptcy .

And you think I would care what disgusts you........why, exactly? You can't even present a counter argument, only a patriotic knee-jerk insult.

You think that someone deserves to be saddled with crippling debt over one medical issue? I'm disgusted that holier-than-thou idiots think that healthcare is a privilege for the rich and upper middle class and to hell with anyone else, and hey, while we're at it, let's do everything we can to bury these folks with reduced access to care and prevention so that our own progeny will continue to have the benefits that we had, while others are kicked back into the dirt.

It's all of it. From the cost of educating these people, to the massive undersupply of people to work these jobs (Oh, I'm sorry, you didn't want to be in debt for 10 years to be a NURSE?), to massive regulation yet NOT regulating the things that would actually improve the situation, to the absolute and utter refusal of our politicans to do anything effective. You think that the current administration is going to do what's not in the best interest of businesses as opposed to people that are being financially ruined over a one-time event? Good luck with that.

I can't speak to the effectiveness of 'Obamacare.' My situation literally did not change one iota aside from having to report to the IRS what my company pays for their part of my coverage. So in that regard, the aim to reduce costs failed from my perspective. But what I do know is that I've known far too many people that have been hurt by the cost of medical care, the inability to GET said healthcare, and it's not something I'm willing to turn a blind eye to anymore, ESPECIALLY in the state that I'm in, where my votes at a local and state level might have some kind of legitimate impact. But sure, go on with your privilege and live your life....after all, you're entitled, right? Why should it matter to you that other people suffer under a system, as long as it works in your benefit...

Okay, I hate the government of this country?

Since I really don't give two craps about whatever responses come from this, I'll just refrain from responding any further. Probably already broke the rules as-is. Oh well. Some people just deserve a kick in the nuts, what can I say..

The "Affordable Care Act" aka Obamacare tripled the cost of health insurance in my state and tripled the co-pay.

I used to pay $230/mo for $2500 deductible 80/20 insurance. It hadnt changed much in 15 years.

2017 rates are $1200/mo for $7800 deductible and 70/30 insurance for a single person. Double that for 2 people.

But at least I'm covered in case I get pregnant or my wife gets prostate disease.

Bama care is a joke and has only made things worse...Anyway good luck to the OP.

No "Bama" care isn't a joke. Sorry that you feel people shouldn't have the right to affordable healthcare. Sorry that you think employers shouldn't have to pay a little out to make sure their employees have health coverage.

Yes.

Im on the hook for $22,400/yr before my insurance kicks in. $44,800/yr to include my wife.

I really feel good about paying a little more.
After all, it's affordable health care.

Rigid.

The numbers you guys are throwing around for health care are f'ing insane.

$45K a year?

That's like 2 kilos of cocaine

Every year!

Sound like an easy choice

Same here. $1,300 a month for 2016 and it will probably go up this year. I'm better off not having it and saving all the cash. Some doctors offer big discounts when paying with cash. Obummercare is a joke.

Seriously this "Obummer" shit is so racist.

Wait, you are paying $45k for TWO PEOPLE annually? Are you self-employed?

I wonder if the three negs I got were from Christians.

The insane part is that once we've paid up insurance still doesn't pay 100% or in many cases just flat out refuses to pay anything . You want to have dental and eye covered that is extra as well.

Christians!, what a joke. Had my credit card frozen do to fraudulent activity from the web site Christianmingle. Never even visited that site. Your a loser if you ever do!

Welcome to the modern world.

I am from the US originally but left 12 years ago. Costs sure have kept going up. As a contrast, we have universal care in New Zealand. I pay $60 to visit my GP (kids are free) which is expensive by NZ standards but I can usually get a same day appointment and they are really close. Anything beyond a GP visit I don't need to pay for. We buy insurance that lets us go private if needed, that comes up for elective things like a knee replacement or something not essential. That insurance is ~100 a month for a family of four. Almost anything essential (the serious stuff) is done with the public system so no direct cost, just taxes. Drugs are purchased at the national level and we don't always have the latest and greatest, particularity the 100k per year wonder drug sorts of things. $5 per prescription to a max I think of $60 a year.

I know people like to talk about how horrible 'socialised' medicine is but as someone that was in the US system with good insurance for 35 years what we have in NZ is quite acceptable. I just wonder who pockets all the cash in the US.

To the OP I hope things work out for you.

Me too.

I'm 44. I've been working for companies where I had a portion of my benefits paid for by the company since I was 18. I've been living in the modern world all my life. Open heart surgery when I was 11, too - ended up bankrupting my parents. They couldn't blame Obummercare then, yet the insurance industry was still fucking over the common man.

Pharmaceutical companies and insurance providers.

Oops