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Debra Poppelaars of Nashville, Tennessee, underwent spinal fusion surgery last fall and was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly thereafter. Although she is insured, she owes roughly $19,000 for her portion of the medical bills.
Between disability, a job change and the mounting debt, she hasn’t been able to make ends meet and is now facing bankruptcy.
“It’s very hard at 64 years old, I look back and think I am in this position and I should be able to retire,” she said.
Debra Poppelaars of Nashville, Tennessee, underwent spinal fusion surgery last fall and was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly thereafter. Although she is insured, she owes roughly $19,000 for her portion of the medical bills.
Between disability, a job change and the mounting debt, she hasn’t been able to make ends meet and is now facing bankruptcy.
“It’s very hard at 64 years old, I look back and think I am in this position and I should be able to retire,” she said.
An acquaintance of my wife is in a similar situation. Got laid off from decent job, went back to school and got certificate for web design but with that and journalism degree, couldn’t find decent employment...still searching, late 60s. Went to work for Walmart, diagnosed with stage 3a breast cancer, undergoing treatment now and just told landlady she can’t make her rent being off work and starting to pay her share of medical bills.
Life sucks, then you die.
Last edited by Mike from back east; 09-15-2018 at 12:35 PM..
Reason: Language
Hardly surprising, given the state of our healthcare system a medical emergency is more than enough to make a middle-class family struggling to get by.
Debra Poppelaars of Nashville, Tennessee, underwent spinal fusion surgery last fall and was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly thereafter. Although she is insured, she owes roughly $19,000 for her portion of the medical bills.
Between disability, a job change and the mounting debt, she hasn’t been able to make ends meet and is now facing bankruptcy.
“It’s very hard at 64 years old, I look back and think I am in this position and I should be able to retire,” she said.
We believe in freedom. That includes the freedom to do stupid things, freedom to remain ignorant in spite of 12 years of mandatory education, freedom to function at a low level and not strive to succeed in life, freedom to spent money as fast or faster than they can earn it. When people exercise their freedoms to make poor choices with poor consequences, should we feel sorry for them? Should we give up some of our resources to help them? Or should we take away some of their freedoms?
Debra Poppelaars of Nashville, Tennessee, underwent spinal fusion surgery last fall and was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly thereafter. Although she is insured, she owes roughly $19,000 for her portion of the medical bills.
Between disability, a job change and the mounting debt, she hasn’t been able to make ends meet and is now facing bankruptcy.
“It’s very hard at 64 years old, I look back and think I am in this position and I should be able to retire,” she said.
These articles always cherry pick the most sympathetic cases and ignore all the others where people are just stupid or reckless. Or worse, they try to make reckless people into victims.
I have noticed (I'm a volunteer first responder) that many people struggle to "pay those basic expenses" the article says they have trouble with:
But they have no problems affording cigarettes.
I'm not saying there aren't exceptions, people living in only SS (most, but not all through bad choices and a lack of discipline all their lives.)
But most of them.... Get food stamps and "need help" with the power bill, but have cash for weed and tatoos
America is bursting at the seams with opportunities. We are incredibly spoiled. My sister studied in Nicaragua for her master's degree and met her husband, a smart, talented engineer and artist. This guy is brilliant. He can build a house, run plumbing to irrigate crops, paint stunning murals, fix Japanese cars with parts designed for American cars, and he speaks three languages. My youngest brother dropped out of college three weeks into the semester and spent the next 5 years of his life bouncing around menial jobs occasionally getting arrested for smoking pot. Finally he got a job delivering and installing jukeboxes and other devices at bars and restaurants.
My brother makes twice my sister's husband's salary, and his benefits are better as well. He has a nicer house, a nicer car, and he is able to live close to family, while my sister's husband has been forced to bounce around central America to find work. My youngest brother is the least prosperous member of my extended family, yet he would be at the very high end of upper middle class in the majority of the hemisphere. My brother spends more money feeding his dogs each month than many of my sister's in-laws spend feeding their whole families.
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