Quote:
Originally Posted by fuzebox
All this thread proves is that woj was right, and poor planning is the real cause of most financial problems.
I'm reading descriptions like "family of four with a house, a couple of cars" and how a medical bill will destroy them... If you can't afford health insurance then why do you have two cars? Why did you have two kids to begin with if you couldn't afford them and had to "live on the edge"?
The fact is, the average american lives beyond their means. Having your bills paid at the end of the month with no substantial savings is not living within your means, I'm sorry. Most people don't need 80% of the shit they buy, and are irresponsible spenders. Most people can't afford the 2nd or 3rd kid they had.
Hell, the 50% divorce rate is fucked up enough as is. I don't understand how a couple can get married, lock themselves 50/50 into something as big as a house, and then get a divorce a few years later.
The lack of personal responsibility and common sense in the world blows my mind.
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While I will strongly agree with you that many people live outside their means and spend every penny they earn medical bills and insurance are two separate things. What about what Boneprone says? His daughter had medical problems and the bill was 378K and the insurance decided no to pay. That is a lot more common than people know. There are many people who get injured or sick and accumulate a lot of medical bills then the insurance doesn't pay them and you are screwed.
Take the average family in this country. That means they have 2 adults and 2 kids and they have an average annual income of 50K pre-tax. So if they live in an average house and don't drive any kind of fancy cars and they live well within their means and put 10% of their income away each year in savings so they are doing well by most people's standards. If you drop 100-150K in medical bill debt on them they would be in trouble. They might be able to pay it off over time, but there would most likely be wage garnishments and all kinds of financial troubles.
Everyday in this country insurance companies deny claims. If you are denied you have two choices. You can either just pay the bill yourself or you can hire a lawyer to fight the insurance company. If the medical problem has strapped you financially to begin with you probably can't afford the lawyer.