top 5 reasons for bankruptcy:
1. Eliminate the Legal Obligation to Pay Many of Your Debts.
This process of wiping the slate clean is called a discharge of debts. The goal of a discharge is to reduce debt to give you a fresh start. Whether it is through straight bankruptcy (Chapter 7 Bankruptcy) or through reorganization (Chapter 13 Bankruptcy), most or all of your debts can be cleared.
2. Stop Foreclosure on Your House and Allow You to Effectively Make Payments to Catch up on Missed Payments of Your Mortgage.
If your home is in foreclosure, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure any time prior to the sale. Bankruptcy does not eliminate mortgages on your property without payment. Rather, bankruptcy will structure a plan in order to repay your mortgage arrears (the amount that you are behind).
3. Prevent Your Car or Other Property From Being Repossessed.
Even if the creditor has repossessed your car, filing bankruptcy can effectively force them to return your car or other personal property (if the bankruptcy is filed quickly enough). The past payments you have missed will be consolidated into your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy plan. After this you will no longer pay the finance company, rather you will make monthly payments to the trustee of your Chapter 13 Bankruptcy who will then pay the finance company.
4. Reduce or Even Eliminate High Medical Bills.
Sometimes an unfortunate accident or major recently discovered illness can completely ruin a family. Many families have to make choices on allocation of bills. Often, bills that were once important become insignificant to the large medical bills acquired by a loved one. Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can greatly reduce the amount of medical bills.
5. Recent Loss of Employment.
Studies show that loss of work is one of the most common reasons people file for bankruptcy. This is very easy to see. A family can get comfortable on two maybe even one salary. They can take on regular amount of debts, join clubs, and pay normal bills with relative ease. All of a sudden one or both spouses lose a job and a family must go from two salaries to one. Losing a job is closely tied to high medical bills. Losing a job means this family may be left without the protection of insurance that was once provided by their employer. Often times these two factors combined create an almost impossible mountain to climb without the help of bankruptcy.
seems to me medical is #4, not #1.
Your article states:
"Of those who filed for bankruptcy in 2007, nearly 80 percent had health insurance. Respondents who reported having insurance indicated average expenses of just under $18,000. Respondents who filed and lacked insurance had average medical bills of nearly $27,000."
Only $18~27k in bills? The price of a new car. Why would someone destroy their credit for 10 years (pay back $1800 per year, not so hard for someone that really has the inclination to work hard and pay their bills). Unbelievable. And 8 out of 10 HAD HEALTH INSURANCE!!!! So if we force the other 20% to pay for health insurance how are they going to pay for their medical bills? They won't anyway since all they have to do is file bankruptcy or just move to a new place and re-apply for welfare.
AI
