As someone who has had the great misfortune to have had a very sick son and a pair of twins in NICU for a month each, a personal hospital stay of 10 days, eight months of drug therapy, a wife who has had four children and breast cancer, combined with a stint of Obama economy unemployment ALL within the last five years. I can honestly say that I will never pay the medical bills I have racked up, even with insurance.
I simply tell medical professionals up front that they will only receive reimbursement from the insurance company and to bill accordingly.
That being said, I have a credit score of 798 and owe no credit except for a house payment. This is the only reason we haven't been bankrupted.
I think the number may be high. One of my kids got a credit downgrade over a dispute about whether his college insurance was going to pay or something that came up in the last week or two of coverage. I don’t think that really counts, but it would show up in this type of a survey.
“How many are from consumer debt and how many are strictly medical debt?”
I would like to see a breakdown on: medical debt, student loans, and “other.”
Prolly eye opening.
Reminds me of a conversation I once heard in the ER(paraphrased):
When my child is sick, I will do anything to get them well.
Would you pay for their treatment?
Hell, no. I got too many other bills to pay.