If you have a chronic, very expensive, illness like Lupus or Fibromyalgia or Parkinsons or Diabetes or debilitating arthritis or IBS or Crohn's Disease or any of the hundreds of other chronic illnesses that plague mankind, forget ever getting out of debt unless you have a very rich spouse.
ESPECIALLY if you are single and live alone in a house or apartment way too small for a roommate, you will eventually hit rock bottom with the skyrocketing medical bills.
Sorry to be the one to break the news to you. Pollyannas who tell you that all you need to do is not go farther in debt, save your money, and pay off your bills are speaking to you from a place of great privilege. Ignore them. They know not what they say.
No one with enough money ever gives anyone with less than enough money good advice about how to get out of debt.
The only way out of debt is to make enough money to pay all your bills every month without having to go further in debt. If you are sick and try to work more than one job, the extra doctor bills will cost you more than your extra income, and may also cost you both your jobs or even your life especially if you are already over 60 years old.
If you are sick and try changing jobs to make more money AND you have a pre-existing condition, you could be setting yourself up for MASSIVE medical debt because your new insurance company may refuse to pay for your illness.
Oh...and don't forget the dental bills and the ophthalmologist bills. When you are older, you suddenly need root canals and crowns and such. Cha-ching!!!
Because of the medication I have to take that requires special eye tests, my ophthalmologist bills are close to a thousand dollars a year, which I never have so I have to charge it, not counting my glasses, which I have to have to see. I am not alone in having to pay all these medical bills.
If you are over 60 but not yet 65, there is nothing you can do but pray that you will live long enough for Medicare and hope beyond hope that the present administration in Washington doesn't gut Medicare before you reach the magic 65th birthday...or worse...make you wait until you are 70. You could die from the stress of the debt by then.
It is not just the doctor bills. There is also the medicine you have to purchase every month. Even generic medicine can be expensive if you must take several prescriptions every day, but some medicines do not have generics, of course, and those huge prescription bills are not counting the supplements. Vitamins, calcium, cold medicine, sinus medicine, antihistamines, probiotics, etc. are often the only things keeping you out of the doctor's office yet again.
Now add in the special diet you have to eat because of your illness.
Now add in all the specialist visits, emergency room visits, and perhaps even physical therapy costs.
You can not afford to retire, but you can also not afford to NOT retire because your health will improve when you're not faced with the exhaustion of working 40 to 60 hours a week.
It is a vicious cycle.
Me? I plan to sell my house and pay down my debt...hopefully to a manageable point. Then I plan to move to a place that is less expensive than Charleston, SC. I may end up in a small town, but as long as there is good medical care nearby, I'm okay with that. MOST places in America are cheaper to live than Charleston, SC.
I am one of the lucky ones. I have a pension and I will be able to keep my health insurance. I am blessed. So very many people are not as fortunate as me.
People with this much medical debt are helpless when the fridge breaks or the washing machine breaks or the water heater explodes or the roof leaks or the car breaks down or needs new tires or the pets need to go to the vet. EVERYTHING that happens starts adding to the debt because even if you make a good living, the debt takes over your life and there is nothing you can do about it but go further into it.
You stop socializing except for birthdays or other rare occasions. You can't afford to buy your family nice Christmas presents anymore. YOU ARE NOT SPENDING MONEY NEEDLESSLY. You probably don't have cable or even a home phone. What you do have is medical debt.
Please hear this plea, American politicians. FIX THIS.
The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is the ONLY first world country on this planet where you can lose your home, your savings, everything you have worked for your entire life, just because you get sick.
Fix this. Fix this now.
Americans, you can help fix this too! Vote the privileged politicians out of office as soon as possible. Vote the bought-and-paid-for-by-the-pharmaceutical-companies politicians out of office as soon as possible.
Fix this before it happens to you.
Mark my words. It can happen to you.
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