Can I just say.....

[Anonymous]

.....what is great about this forum, is that there are so many folks who have been in varying degrees of financial difficulty (or not) and coming to one place to share information. I wish I had known about this forum two years ago. It would have saved me a lot of grief, not to mention months and months of isolation.

I wish my problems had come from taking too many cruises or buying expensive luxury cars....instead, I just got sick....really sick. I've finally dug out from under a mountain of medical bills. When I had to pay for prescription drugs with my credit cards....well, that became a problem too.

I've finally got some cash in the bank for the downpayment on my house, and once my car is paid off, then I will be completely debt free...and will be living a no-credit card, debt-free life for the remainder of my days. As for doctors and hospitals, unless they accept only what my insurance can pay...I'll take the consequences of being sick.

I found a book recently by the Economides family (cheapest family in America...) about living without debt or credit, how they paid off their mortgage in 15 years on WAY less than what I make every year. I'm thrift shop buying now....AND teaching my son the difference between a need and a want. Most of all, I've stopped taking the advice of so-called financial planners who want to tell me how to save and spend my money - if I buy their products, of course.

My FICO score is rising, slowly...but it's rising....and once I get my house - which is the prize I have my eye on right now...I'll never buy into the credit market again. That will be my true Independence Day.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent.

[Anonymous]

That's not a vent -- that's a success story, and it's always great to hear one!

WTG!

[Anonymous]

Congrats! It's amazing how medical bills can ruin an American's finances, and then you read stories about all the free "medical clinics" that give illegal aliens free medical care to pump out more babies. The medical system is really "sicko", like Michael Moore says.

[Anonymous]

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PeggyFair wrote:

Congrats! It's amazing how medical bills can ruin an American's finances, and then you read stories about all the free "medical clinics" that give illegal aliens free medical care to pump out more babies. The medical system is really "sicko", like Michael Moore says.

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Used to be that if one could show that one had made a good faith effort to pay what one could on a medical bill, it would never hit collections. Things changed, and I don't know exactly when. I cannot point to any specific law change. I cannot point to a specific point in time, but I'll be cliché and blame it on 9/11. One has to be extremely pro-active with one's medical bills. Follow up right away and do NOT let things sit. You blink, and it's a collection.

[Anonymous]

No, I've known of medical bills wracking people's finances waaaay before 9/11. They'll hunt you down for the bill if you're an American citizen.

[Anonymous]

PeggyFair wrote:

Congrats! It's amazing how medical bills can ruin an American's finances, and then you read stories about all the free "medical clinics" that give illegal aliens free medical care to pump out more babies. The medical system is really "sicko", like Michael Moore says.

Right on PeggyFair.............Thats the kind of Bulls___ that pisses me off. It's not just the illegal aliens, it's the legal ones too with the green cards. They pump these babies out to make the baby a US citizen. From what I have heard, both legal and illegal aliens pay no Federal taxes.

[MidnightVoice]

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cbjn1103 wrote:

 From what I have heard, both legal and illegal aliens pay no Federal taxes.

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I can assure you that legal aliens pay State and Federal taxes. 

[Anonymous]

Zen,

Thanks for sharing your story - I wish you nothing but the very best.  Last summer when I quit my job to spend the summer with my kids, it was hard and I became extremely **bleep**, I cannot believe I created a grocery list spreadsheet by section; down to watching the ads weekly to calculate my bill...and it was the hardest thing I had ever done, worse it was hard on my kids (or on me) but, I wanted them to understand what I went through to a degree - $20 for lunch for the week for both of them - had to take their cold lunch to school...I got myself a second job at a clothing consignment shop only working the two weeks they are with their Dad and I always shop there, have for a few years now, wish I'd known back when I was married about these - but there is always a lesson to learn, and I know I never want to know again what it feels like to stretch $20.

You will get your house - that's what I'm trying so hard for too, security for my kids period, there is no greater gift; and I know in the end I'll get there because I struggled through it very hard, and I'm glad at the time I had to work through it, nobody to help - I don't think we'd learn the lessons we did if someone handed us the gold platter.

Best of luck - I hope your health is back & you enjoy life with your son

[Anonymous]

These crooked politicians no longer represent the American people, they represent their coporate sponsors and cater to their greed for cheap labor. The cost of living here in DC is so high, yet you see them walking around with a baby in the stroller, a baby in hand and one on the way in the stomach, and everyone knows who will be paying for it. But of course, it's not politically correct to state the truth. I pay about 350/month for medical and dental which I feel is pretty good, but I feel for people whose finances have been wrecked by medical debt.

[fused]

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Noah_Bodie wrote:

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PeggyFair wrote:

Congrats! It's amazing how medical bills can ruin an American's finances, and then you read stories about all the free "medical clinics" that give illegal aliens free medical care to pump out more babies. The medical system is really "sicko", like Michael Moore says.

---

Used to be that if one could show that one had made a good faith effort to pay what one could on a medical bill, it would never hit collections. Things changed, and I don't know exactly when. I cannot point to any specific law change. I cannot point to a specific point in time, but I'll be cliché and blame it on 9/11. One has to be extremely pro-active with one's medical bills. Follow up right away and do NOT let things sit. You blink, and it's a collection.

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This started when the reimbursements starting heading to $0. Over the last eight years I have been working for a physician group, surgeons to be exact, and have seen government payer reimbursements decline more than 55% and private payers (insurance companies) just a tad behind. Who in their right mind accepts a salary that pays 6.875% less every year for 8 years? Insurance is far and away the most sleazy unregulated industry in America. Physicians are not getting much and they have to run around and chase nearly every bill. A healthcare crisis is on the horizon!