[Homestead] China--the rest of the story, from a rural viewpoint
Lisa Perry
lkvp at floydva.net
Tue Dec 21 10:31:58 EST 2004
Gene GeRue wrote:
> But Shan's parents, strapped with debt and obligation, are among the
> untold millions of people in rural China caught in a brutal cycle.
> Studies show that medical costs are the leading reason that people
> fall into poverty in China. Many city residents still have some health
> benefits, but peasants now fall under a pay-for-service system.
> Sickness can mean bankruptcy.
>
> Mr. Yang went to Beijing in part to earn enough money for medical
> treatment.
This is not that differerent from our country. Medical bills should not
impact a person's credit. It could be every medical bill or perhaps
those over a certain threshold of $500-$1000. I have looked at too many
credit reports over the years that have low scores from medical bills
that have gone to collections. This almost happened to me this past
year. I broke my arm last February and the bill was $2500, I'm
uninsured and could only afford to pay in installments. I spoke to the
office manager several times about my account and even though I was
making regular payments, my account nearly went to collections when it
was 90 days old. I specifically spoke to the office manager to avoid
the collections scenario because I knew I couldn't pay my debt in 90
days. People with several medical collections are often denied
mortgage loans or given loans with much higher interest rates.
On a separate issue, a good friend of mine recently learned that his
wife has breast cancer. It's a rare and aggressive form and after a
mastectomy she will have chemo for 18 weeks because the cancer was in 3
lymph nodes. The chemo treatment costs $13k per week! I was astounded
to learn how expensive it was. Her insurance is only covering 60%
because she went to a doctor that was not on her provider list.
And last, a friend of my husband, his wife died this past year also from
breast cancer and left him $50k in debt.
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