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by rhaway84773 1046 days ago
> Without addressing the politics of it, the impression among many informed people that most defaulted debt is medically-related is the result of successful advocacy work rather than being substantially based in reality.

Is this actually an impression informed people have? I’m the prime target for such opinions because of my issues with the U.S. healthcare system, but even I always understood the common understanding to be that most bankruptcies are caused by medical debt, and not debt defaults in general (most debt default doesn’t lead to bankruptcy, especially with credit card debt. It usually just leads to a payment plan).

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>I’m the prime target for such opinions because of my issues with the U.S. healthcare system, but even I always understood the common understanding to be that most bankruptcies are caused by medical debt, and not debt defaults in general

Only 4% of US bankruptcies are because of medical bills. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/0...> A tipoff that [insert large percentage here] of bankruptcies aren't actually because of medical costs is that only 6% of bankruptcies by those without health insurance are because of that cause. The biggest cause of bankruptcies is lack of income, which health insurance doesn't affect anywhere in the world.