How on earth do i not file BK again??

[kym]

We have filed bankruptcy2x once in 99 (chapt 13) 09 (chapt 7)... Both times its been for medical. Credit cards don't get us (we dont own them- but looking to getting one after discharge).

This time we surrendered both vehicles that we were backwards in.... His folks bought us a 10 yr old mini van (we are making payments on)..

but for those whose main reason for BK was medical... then how do we avoid this again? My son has alot of dr's due to his medical issues, I have medical issues as well. My husbands group insurance (self insured company) we pay $500 a month for it... but due to my sons and my health issues we cannot afford to get private insurance..

I just never want to file again... ever... but with all the medical how do you do it...

[needachance]

Does your son qualify for state funded kids insurance? If you make too much to qualify for that then you have to either decide to limit your income so you can qualify or you have to shop around for better private insurance. We have a very high deductible, save the deductible in an HSA to the max every year and we pay 400 a month for health insurance. I have 2 children with epilepsy and we have over 300 a month in medication expenses. A hospital bill for 50+ grand is what got us into the mess but we had no insurance at the time. I know that you will get people in here saying that you are the perfect example of why we need govt health care but I don't believe that. I think that if we are DETERMINED not to borrow, we can do it. Just my opinion. Of course, we were using credit cards and buying cars at the time we got in trouble 7 years ago. Now we are finally filing and haven't used a card for 5 years and havent bought a car but for cash either. You have to change your lifestyle too.

Sorry you are dealing with this. health stuff suicks.

[kym]

Thanks... No we do not qualify for state funded insurance. We make 45K a year, with 2 kids. Our 8 year old has mental health issues which has very very limited benefits (its sad). I am a diabetic on insulin.. For health care for us else where would be $800 a month which we cannot afford. I cannot change my lifestyle.. We scrap by as it is... I dont go grocery shopping as often as we need... we rent a cheap apartment (650 a month) we pay the in laws 220 a month for a van. We are doing the best we can..

I am not for the govt healthcare... just trying to find a way to survive.... My husband and I just enrolled into a vocational school, to help bring in more income... I just never want to be in this boat again...

[Flamingo]

You need to do some research. Your son's mental issues may be a disability for which you can investigate government benefits and you need to speak to someone in your doctor's office or contact some main web sites for diabetics where you might find some information for help with medication costs, etc. if you cannot work. You don't mention whether or not you work. If you cannot work, have you investigated disability? The only other suggestoins I can think of are to look for help through your church or find a social group in your area that meets where you can speak with other people in your medical situation and get some ideas as to what they do. Also your main hospitals all have social networks that can put you in contact with all sorts of help or aid for any medical condition. It's a start, it's some suggestions. The ball is in your court to investigate your options because no one will hand it to you. I wish you the best of luck and hope things do get better for you...

[sdbird101]

I am not for the govt healthcare... just trying to find a way to survive.... My husband and I just enrolled into a vocational school, to help bring in more income... I just never want to be in this boat again...

Tuff situation and a perfect situation to demonstrate how broken our system is. I know you say you arn't for government healthcare, but at the least you would need some sort of public option. This would not happen in any other industialized nation. Your best bet I think is to hope some helpful measure for you gets passed with this health insurance reform since there will probably be no public option, maybe some type of pre existing condition exemption. Until then you may have to continually file until you reach a point where you are un garnishable with retirement accounts and some sort of social security or disability. There are probably some resources with your township trustee you could check out that would help you make ends meet, or aleast they could refer you to some possible othere public or private resources. Many states family and welfare devisions also have social workers that can recommend resources for you.

[JRScott]

Well probably if you want to avoid another bankruptcy it means setting aside an emergency fund that means savings. The problem is I'm not sure how much your medical has been these past two times, nor what you might need to set aside to keep it from happening again.

It would mean that you'd need to budget some sort of savings though. Probably a good start figure would be 10% of his income weekly. The money only to be touched in emergencies. This might necessitate cuts in your lifestyle in order to cover it. It would mean a lot of discipline to use it only for emergencies.

I see you say your against government health care and that's probably good every State that has instituted it has eventually had to cut services because they couldn't afford it, no need to rely on what might not be there later.

[momisery]

This is a double edged sword. If you are filing BK you probably do not make a ton of money, and therefore saving for any emergency is not possible. In our case we had bad luck after bad luck then the downturn ... and medical isses pretty much tipped he scale. Can we prevent this? Maybe if we chose to live in a maytag box. But there is no way that we can survive on me working and paying for hubby's health insurance and care and him being close to 60. The reason is no one wants to hire him because of his age and health. So if he works for 7.50 and hour and my wage is not huge, while we can scrape by with rent and cars all the costs of insurances car and health, and gas.. I would say few would have a chance of never filing again. Until we get the wages in level again so people can afford to consumer or at least afford healthcare insurance that pay 100% of the bill with monthly premiums, no ones future is secure. The unknown is much worse than you think when it comes to medical bills. I have seen the enemy and I am impressed.. ha ha. Did some spend too much? I am sure they did, but I do not have a huge house that I am losing, and my cars are little compact tiny cars that do good with gas. So, when your living on a shoestring already it is pretty hard to feel like you will be okay in a downturn. many are in that position.

What is worse is this persons son will be plagued with huge healthcare costs for a life time, and of being denyed coverage. No fault of his own.. but there it is.