To get started, let’s share our stories of going into debt to get health care. Your fellow debtors want to hear from you. You can even share an image that tells your story better than words, if you prefer.
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I was unemployed and had no health insurance back when the affordable care act happened. I did sit down with someone to try to get coverage but it was still going to be $300+
In 2015 I had multiple trips to the hospital due to illness. Even now I can’t pay for those past due bills
I’ve accumulated medical debt due to losing my insurance from Tricare. Now, due to medical issues I can no longer seek treatment for, I have accumulated medical bills due to emergency visits. I hate when people say to “just work and pay your debt”. I can’t work full-time nor at most jobs due to my medical issues and can’t get help with my medical issues because I can’t afford the cost on a minimum wage job. I’ts a vicious cycle that never ends.
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Hi
If any of your debts are in collections, have you tried to dispute them?
Here’s mine:
I used to have Insurance Marketplace insurance. My husband worked for a tiny auto insurance company with 3 total employees (including the owner) and the owner made him pick out insurance on the marketplace and then the owner would pay the premium every month.
Cue me needing a $5,500 prosthetic leg. I got it, but then discovered that a month prior, the owner just “forgot”… he just “FORGOT” to pay the premium. So I became on the hook for my leg. The owner “forgot to pay” two years in a row causing our insurance to be cancelled. I couldn’t really sue the guy or make him pay for my leg because my husband did not want to be fired.
Three years later, I have my own marketplace insurance that is auto withdrawn from my bank account every month. I also get a confirmation email every month AND check on the website every month because I am paranoid I will lose my insurance from that past experience.
Cue me needing my leg replaced. $5,500.
Cue my identity being stolen and my bank account cleaned out.
Cue my premium not being paid a day later due to the empty bank account.
Cue the marketplace sending me a confirmation email and saying I did pay online.
But they didn’t withdraw the money because my account was empty.
In the confusion from having my identity stolen at the same time, I did not realize it.
They didn’t care about any of that. They did not get the premium and therefore my insurance was canceled, even though they send me confirmation emails, even though it was confirmed online, even though my identity was stolen. They didn’t care.
Now I owe over $11k in medical debt for legs that should have been paid.
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That is 
really unexceptable and I am sorry to hear. Let us know if you need help filing disputes.
Hello! Thank you for sharing your story. This is so outrageous! You deserve better. We all deserve better. The Debt Collective supports Medicare for All for exactly this reason. We should all be pressuring our elected officials to support it too.
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