My wife and I had to file for bankruptcy well more than a decade ago due to a medical bill. It wasn't tied directly to the bill however. I was approved for a medical procedure and afterwards my insurance company denied the claim (almost $20,000). We had excellent credit at the time and a few credit cards with plenty of available funds so we used the credit cards to pay the bills. Shortly afterwards my wife lost her job. We ended up late on some CC payments, the interest rates sky rocketed and we ended up in bankruptcy court. We were fairly frugal and responsible with our credit cards, that's why we had so much credit available. A cursory look at our situation would not find medical bills to be the reason for our bankruptcy but it was the reason.
The scenario of relying on CC to pay medical bills is very common among households where they simply do not have savings which can be used to meet those medical bills. The addition of monthly Credit Card payments to a pre existing budget meeting basic living expenses is bound to destabilize that budget. It is undeniable that those medical bills charged on Credit Cards are the cause for a down spiraling process which may compromise the ability to meet basic living expenses.
The oncology/hematology treatment center I go to has a Foundation designed to supplement their financially struggling patients' basic living expenses during the duration of their treatments which by the nature of oncology/hematology obviously point to unavoidable and certainly not to be delayed treatments and procedures. It is clear that such statewide(Florida) medical center is fully aware of how their medical billing is bound to destabilize those patients' pre existing budgets. By supplementing , they keep them afloat while preventing a situation like yours. A patient losing their employment would still be able to get their treatments while being relieved from the heavy burden of not being able to meet their monthly BLEs.
In our household and while I receive treatments, I have to be very careful to limit how many days I will need off from work to recover each week after each infusion. I limit it to the day of the infusion and following day to rest and recuperate from the side effects. Why? Because the more days I will take off, the lower income I will contribute to our household. Decrease in my income will destabilize our monthly budget to meet our BLEs. My husband, who like me works in nursing as an hourly wage health care worker, if any health related condition affects his ability to work, it would be catastrophic as he is the main income provider.
Like you, last year we had no choice but to charge and max out our Credit Card to meet the out of pocket cost of unavoidable repeated eye surgeries/procedures as we were still under insured. In 2010, we had no choice but charge our Credit Card to meet the out of pocket cost of oncology related care which could not be delayed. At the time I was a patient in a different facility which did not provide a Foundation based supplementing for BLEs.
I am looking now at what the cost out of pocket would be for the monoclonal treatments we cannot avoid I am currently receiving. Cost alone for the drug being between 3000 and 4000 dollars PER infusion. Accumulating a medical debt between 12.000 and 16.000 over the course of 4 weeks to be repeated 6 months later. Note that one would have to benefit of a high line of credit from a CC company to charge such large amounts on their Credit Card. Fortunately for us, we were able to secure adequate health insurance as of January 1st 2014 and the RX part of our plan does not have to go towards our deductible. Meaning the cost of the drug alone is 100% covered. However if we were still under insured, it is undeniable that such astronomical cost for the drug alone would greatly jeopardize our ability to meet our BLE obligations.
Just to clarify, when I use the term BLE, I am referring to shelter, utilities, food, transportation to and from work and clothing.
To go back to the OP question : IMO it has to do with what type of values were instilled in us by our parents' role modeling as we grew up. I had a humanitarian father. Further, my childhood was one which went from a colonial wealthy lifestyle to poverty when we moved to France. Giving me insights into both worlds. The exposure to the poverty "world" would guard me from "money making me mean". Later on in my adult life, my direct interaction with and observation of impoverished individuals/families necessitating in home health care. A 14 year old girl assuming the role of a caregiver to her quadriplegic mother in Progress Village, a poverty level community in Riverview. Basically, I have not lived in an "Ivory Tower" disconnected from and distant from those harsh realities.
What I am getting to is that when born with a silver spoon and growing up with the same silver spoon while being protected from exposure to the poverty and duress experienced by our fellow human beings, we might remain detached and distant. We might see the world through our own tiny box. We might retain a very self centered vision of what we are here for. We might think of our wealth as a long term generator of profit only without any other goal.
The above is NOT said as an absolute where every "silver spoon" traits individual will remain detached and distant. Both Gates and Buffet come to mind as promoters of what is referred to as "philanthrocapitalism" or venture philanthropy.
