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applegrove

(130,307 posts)
Thu Apr 10, 2025, 02:48 PM Apr 2025

By country: Number of people who go bankrupt every year because of medical bills or illness-related work loss:

Number of people who go bankrupt every year because of medical bills or illness-related work loss:

Australia 0
Canada 0
Denmark 0
Finland 0
France 0
Germany 0
Iceland 0
Ireland 0
Italy 0
Japan 0
Netherlands 0
Norway 0
Portugal 0
Spain 0
Sweden 0
UK 0
United States 530,000

There’s a lesson there.

Andrea Junker (@strandjunker.com) 2025-04-10T15:48:24.911Z


Number of people who go bankrupt every year because of medical bills or illness-related work loss:

Australia 0
Canada 0
Denmark 0
Finland 0
France 0
Germany 0
Iceland 0
Ireland 0
Italy 0
Japan 0
Netherlands 0
Norway 0
Portugal 0
Spain 0
Sweden 0
UK 0
United States 530,000

There’s a lesson there.
14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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By country: Number of people who go bankrupt every year because of medical bills or illness-related work loss: (Original Post) applegrove Apr 2025 OP
USA! USA! We're #1. LoisB Apr 2025 #1
I'm one of the 530,000 Americans going into debt because of medical expenses Lawjo Apr 2025 #2
And the billionaires are Quanto Magnus Apr 2025 #3
I think that is based on old data but I have no reason to believe it has changed. progressoid Apr 2025 #4
Thanks for adding. applegrove Apr 2025 #6
As of Jan 2025 credit reports cannot include medical debt leftstreet Apr 2025 #5
"As markodochartaigh Apr 2025 #9
When my daughter was in her 20's, she traveled a lot. patphil Apr 2025 #7
Those countries also Figarosmom Apr 2025 #8
This is actually not true in Canada yliza Apr 2025 #10
No it is not perfect. Some extremely new treatments are not available or very rare applegrove Apr 2025 #12
This is a stunning statistic! Bumbles Apr 2025 #11
There is also a reason. All of those countries have universal health care paid for by taxes. flashman13 Apr 2025 #13
This is inaccurate, there ARE medical bankruptcies in other countries..... groundloop Apr 2025 #14

Lawjo

(20 posts)
2. I'm one of the 530,000 Americans going into debt because of medical expenses
Thu Apr 10, 2025, 03:28 PM
Apr 2025

It pisses me off to no end.

I played the game fair, worked all my life, paid into the system and got laid off after 27 years (only 5 years from retirement). Cobra is so expensive and I can't even handle the deductible.

We can't make it here. Currently doing research on moving abroad. Rent is much cheaper, health care is much cheaper (and on par w/ US) and best of all no LOON running the country

Lock him up - Market manipulation
Lock him up - violating countless laws and civil liberties [only a matter of time before they come for you]
Lock him up - destroying our economy, people's life savings, threating SS [LEts us eat cake, MF'er]

They are already snatching people off the street, shipping them off to an el salvador prison with ZERO due process LOCK HIM UP!!! it happened to them, it could happen to you

He is tampering with witnesses - i.e. sent armed marshals to a witness's house with a letter. WTF, in what world does this happen...
oh yeah, RUSSIA

AND who would have thought we make enemies of our allies and Friends cossy up to Russia and screw Ukraine.

When did we stop protecting democracy around the world and fighting communism .


BETTER DEAD THAN ORANGE

leftstreet

(38,848 posts)
5. As of Jan 2025 credit reports cannot include medical debt
Thu Apr 10, 2025, 04:19 PM
Apr 2025


Final rule will remove billions of dollars of medical bills from credit reports and end coercive debt collection practices that weaponize the credit reporting system

Jan 7 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule that will remove an estimated $49 billion in medical bills from the credit reports of about 15 million Americans. The CFPB’s action will ban the inclusion of medical bills on credit reports used by lenders and prohibit lenders from using medical information in their lending decisions. The rule will increase privacy protections and prevent debt collectors from using the credit reporting system to coerce people to pay bills they don’t owe. The CFPB has found that medical debts provide little predictive value to lenders about borrowers’ ability to repay other debts, and consumers frequently report receiving inaccurate bills or being asked to pay bills that should have been covered by insurance or financial assistance programs.

“People who get sick shouldn’t have their financial future upended,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “The CFPB’s final rule will close a special carveout that has allowed debt collectors to abuse the credit reporting system to coerce people into paying medical bills they may not even owe.”

The CFPB’s research
reveals that a medical bill on a person’s credit report is a poor predictor of whether they will repay a loan, and contributes to thousands of denied applications on mortgages that consumers would be able to repay. The CFPB expects the rule will lead to the approval of approximately 22,000 additional, affordable mortgages every year and that Americans with medical debt on their credit reports could see their credit scores rise by an average of 20 points.

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-finalizes-rule-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/

patphil

(8,733 posts)
7. When my daughter was in her 20's, she traveled a lot.
Thu Apr 10, 2025, 04:29 PM
Apr 2025

She spent time in Germany, Japan, and in the UK.
She received treatment in each of those countries for various health issues, but never paid a dime for the health care she received.
In the US, people can have health insurance and still pay thousands, even 10's of thousands for treatment. They can have their insurance company deny payment because you didn't go to an approved doctor, or received treatment the insurance company didn't like.
Claims get denied all the time, and even when paid, it's often just a part of the whole bill.

Many tens of millions of US citizens say that we're a Christian nation, but we aren't even close to embracing the teachings of Jesus.
And now even the idea of empathy is being attacked.

https://medium.com/@thesharidunn/the-war-on-woke-is-a-war-on-empathy-and-its-working-b71e23ed80d5

Only those on the path of darkness reject empathy.
Empathy is love. Love is empathy.

yliza

(199 posts)
10. This is actually not true in Canada
Thu Apr 10, 2025, 04:44 PM
Apr 2025

Not everything is covered by our universal healthcare. In particular, prescriptions, some treatments, and until recently dental care are not covered. Illness and injury can most definitely result in job loss, as well. That being said, yes we are much better off than the US.

applegrove

(130,307 posts)
12. No it is not perfect. Some extremely new treatments are not available or very rare
Thu Apr 10, 2025, 04:52 PM
Apr 2025

Last edited Thu Apr 10, 2025, 05:32 PM - Edit history (1)

& expensive things are not covered. This last thing can bankrupt families since we pay for our own pharmaceuticals in Canada.

flashman13

(2,031 posts)
13. There is also a reason. All of those countries have universal health care paid for by taxes.
Thu Apr 10, 2025, 05:12 PM
Apr 2025

There are some variations depending on the country. But all of those countries think that health care is a human right in a civilized society.

And the wealthy are required to pay a fair share.

That is all.

groundloop

(13,568 posts)
14. This is inaccurate, there ARE medical bankruptcies in other countries.....
Thu Apr 10, 2025, 05:35 PM
Apr 2025

Although not nearly as many as in the US.

I'm not going to spend a ton of time fact checking this, but here's one link I found.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/medical-bankruptcies-by-country

I happen to feel that we need to be accurate when presenting information such as this.

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