I do not have any personal experience with medical debt. But I just googled "how do you handle medical debt" and I found a host of helpful articles:
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+do+you+handle+medical+debt&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
What I am certain of, however, is the priorities you mentioned (a desire for credit limit increases, a desire for more credit cards) are almost certainly misplaced. Those are reasonable concerns when everything else is great in your life. When you have vast amounts of debt, collection agencies breathing down your neck, possible ongoing health problems, no money and no prospect of having any soon -- getting the next best rewards card should be low on your To Do list.
Here are some things I'd look at if I were you:
(1) Think carefully about you health. Is it reasonably certain that your health problems are behind you? E.g. could your life without a gallbladder lead to other problems? More huge medical bills?
(2) Do you have a clear solution on the horizon for being broke? E.g. a plan for a decent job?
Declaring bankruptcy is one possible plan. That's what it is there for -- when a person or company has generated vast amounts of debt that vast outstrips his ability to pay back.
But BR should be used as a technique once you have some kind of plan for solving #1 and #2. My guess is that it would not make sense to choose BR if it was quite possible that in 3-4 years you'd be looking at a ton more medical debt in collections.
The bottom line is your priorities should all be about finding a way to get out from under the debt for its own sake -- as well as solving the problem of your physical health and income -- not so that you can get better credit cards. You may need to restructure your expectations and concerns such that you are ok with your credit reports being in terrible shape for 7 or 10 years if it means having money and health.
Wishing you all the best....
