Letters to the Editor
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Fools!
The only freedom is freedom from debt. Pay cash, in advance, or do without. Living on credit is a sham and you know you are a sham -- all of you who wrote of similar circumstances and bragging that our predicament was worse and that you can handle it.
The coming crash will get rid of you people first because you are not tough, and I offer no sympathy. Give up EVERYTHING till you get out of debt. Drinks, latte, cabs, parties, all kinds of amenities; live a third-world existence now or temporarily or later and permanently.
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Then again, you could just not pay it.. and wait 7 years
(Boy this is one for the "anonymous" button...)
I think this article fails to address one of the big problems here: The credit card companies.
About 5.5 years ago, my husband and I got in over our heads with credit card debt, around what you are talking about $10,000 or so.
The ways the credit card companies make it impossible to pay these debts is just flat-out insane. First, after a payment is only a few DAYS late (DAYS mind you, not weeks! not months! but DAYS!), they bump your APR from 9 percent to 29 percent overnight, even if you've paid ON TIME every month for years. I kid you not, our biggest single debt -- a Fleet card that financed our reception dinner and honeymoon -- we had been paying on time for three years and when , two months after our wedding, we were eight days late, our APR went from 9 percent to 29 percent. That should just be ILLEGAL, goddamit.
Suddenly, a debt that had seemed manageable (well, sortof) was completely unmanageable.
The next year, as we were struggling to make ends meet and make minimum payments on an out-of-control card, I got giddy about 2 months before Christmas and got another credit card. Bad move. IT had a $500 limit because by that point our credit was crap. So I got this card and I spent $490 on Christmas. I knew I was under my credit limit. I was about to be late with the January payment, so I called it in. Unknown to me, that company actually CHARGED me $20 to make a phone payment. I paid the minimum of $12 or something. THey charged me $20. Suddenly, I was over my credit limit, so they charged me another $30 for being over my limit. So it actually COST me $50 to pay $12 on a credit card debt. And that doesn't even count interest.
And I'm telling you, this should be ILLEGAL. This is fucking ridiculous and immoral and wrong and I Only hope some of these companies making "subprime" loans go out of business and get what they deserve.
SO here's what we did: We stopped paying our debts and decided to wait out the 7 years of bad credit. We're almost there-- just another 2 years to go. Of course we can't buy a house, a car, or anything in that time, but gosh, why would we do that, it would just cause more DEBT? That is one good thing to come out of all of it: We now know how to live without credit cards and debt! Not bad.
I know many might look at that and say it's really immoral and wrong for us to do it, and I DON'T CARE, because these credit card companies create a system where it's just impossible to do the right thing. I feel not an iota of guilt. My husband does, sometimes, but I don't.
Granted, we're lucky we didn't get sued, but I did some research and played some games to make sure we didn't. (It's amazing what kind of advice you can find online... "how to screw the credit card companies out of $10,000 in free honeymooon!")
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Why Medical Debts Are Insulting -- Is Chemotherapy Really A 'Consumer Choice"?
I guess I don't get why you're mad at Blue Cross. They paid $61,00 of your bill. Sounds like an 80/20 policy. -- ReganaD
Here's the problem: illness isn't a consumer choice so why should I be bankrupted or have my credit ruined as if I had went out and bought a car?
Most people these days are broke (one way or another) because of healthcare costs. When your company decides they aren't going to offer ANY healthcare plan anymore -- well that's $300 or $400 of your income that is now going to Blue Cross as opposed to a savings acct, a 401(k) or to paying down any of your existing debts!
And what do you get with your insurance? Do you get to go to the doctor for free any time you like? Nope. You have to pay a $30 co-pay. Huh?? So I pay the insurance company $300 a month and then when I actually use the service I am forced to pay again? Does that make sense? That's like paying the cable company $50 a month and then being charged another $25 bucks if you actually turn on your television!
Well, fine. But surely after paying $300 a month and another $90 for three visits to the doctor for tests at least I get my prescriptions for free right?
Nope. You pay $300 a month. And then you pay again for the co-pay. And then you pay again for the medications.
Whew! Well, at least that's the end of it, right? Nope. Then you get 5 more bills in the mail for all the services your insurance "didn't cover in full."
This is illness. As defined as, "If you don't want to die in 3 years you will pay this money. Now!"
First, ask yourself if the payment structure makes a damn bit of sense. Would you seriously buy any service like cable if they billed you like that? Pay $50 a month for cable TV. There is a $25 co-pay for turning on the tv! If you watch a tv show for more than 10mins -- you will be billed an additional $50 because your cable provider doesn't pay for an entire 30min episode. Sounds like bullshit, right?
If you need surgery or xrays or medication -- none of that is an optional "consumer choice" like buying an ipod or going to Disney World.
So how the hell can we as a society think its okay to bankrupt people simply because they didn't want to die? How can people have their entire credit score ruined just because they couldn't pay their hospital bill? How did we come to this point in our society when something like chemotherapy has now become viewed as a "fun" consumer option no different than buying an iPod? "Can't pay for that life saving chemo? Well, you should live within your means and not given yourself cancer! tut-tut. Kids these days!"
My god. People are being turned down for home loans and cars simply because their credit was ruined by medical bills! But none of it was a choice! Nobody can "save up" for a heart attack or postpone getting cancer until 2012 when they can better afford the life saving procedure.
The massive debt we're all carrying around is in one way or another linked (directly or indirectly) to healthcare costs and a bullshit insurance system that keeps taking our money and giving next to nothing in return.