"Sure the amount of medical bills on the credit card statement may sum up to $12 k, but what about bills for groceries, gasoline, clothing, and the other staples of life that the strapped person with a medical situation must use his credit cards for to survive?"
Unless you're trying to live "la vida loca" on zero income for more than six months, it's not going to be more than $10K. And that's why you should have emergency funds, plus about 4-6 months of expenses saved up. Also, if you know you're going to be unable to work for an extended period, you should start looking very carefully at your expenses and trim the unnecessary ones. I've fed a family of 4 on $40 a week (in 2005 dollars), and I did it for over six months. Yes, the food was bland and boring. And my kids wore hand-me-down/thrift-store/patched-several-times clothes. Oh, well, life went on. And I still had money in the bank when I went back to work.
Stories such as yours are always such an inspiration.
We also once had to figure out how to spend absolutely the minimum. It was amazing. The food may be basic, but in some ways we ate healthier than ever. Junk food is very expensive!
Describes my current apparel perfectly. In fact, just finished re-ironing a patch (we are Thrifty with a capital T).