Chirios wrote:Broomstick wrote:
Let's also put that $20k into perspective. That's less than what many people will spend on a new car or truck. Hospitals will let you make payment arrangements. It's certainly possible to get financing for medical procedures. You don't have to pay the bill in one lump sum. $20,000 over 5 years works out to about $334 a month, and if you can negotiate that amount with the hospital rather than borrowing you won't even have to pay interest. If you can get them to stretch over 10 years (possible - my spouse did that to pay off surgery that saved his right leg from amputation) that's $167 a month. What his wife said about "they can't take our house away because of an unpaid medical bill" is true - they can't. Assuming such surgery goes well (and odds are it would) he would be able to go back to work and continue to earn money. Failure to pay the medical bill might leave their credit completely trashed but it won't take away the house or the food on the table (being completely unable to work might, though, but that's a risk he faces now if some complication to his hernia occurs).
Would the 200 bucks a month be considered a lot of money to someone working his job?
It depends.
They say he was in construction, which has been hard hit of late, but if he's had the hernia 10 years he also had it during the Great Boom that proceeded the Great Recession. During the early 00's even low-level construction workers could earn $30k-50k a year (depending on location and how motivated they were). At 30k a year it might have been a bit of a pinch but it should have been affordable. It depends on how much he's paying for housing and other costs as well.
As a comparison, the first couple years of the Great Recession I was paying off a small loan (arising from family medical issues, surprise surprise) to the tune of $180 a month while earning about $12k a year AND supporting two people besides. It is possible. However, I
also made full use of all government benefits I qualified for, had a garden large enough to make a significant impact on the food bill (including a hydroponic indoor food factory part of that time during the winter), no debt on my vehicles, a rental rate about half what is normal for this area for the space we have, and my dad helped us out during the really thin months.
Who knows what resources that couple has? A garden? Do they hunt? Do they have family that help or hurt them financially? Kids? Ailing parents? What debt do they have? What are their mortgage/rent and utility costs?
Are they able to argue that 20k cost down to 12k or so? Do the local hospitals have access to charitable funds?
But, really -
why the fuck does America insist on making medical access so goddamned complicated?
