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homestead - Re: [Homestead] China--the rest of the story, from a rural viewpoint

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  • From: Lisa Perry <lkvp AT floydva.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] China--the rest of the story, from a rural viewpoint
  • Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 10:31:58 -0500

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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