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S. Nicole Cockerham
Professor Jizi
UWRT 1102-29
11 April 2016
An Illness Away from Bankruptcy
Every individual in the world is only one illness, one surgery, or one emergency
away from thousands of dollars of medical debt and bankruptcy. No one expects it to
happen to them, because what are the odds of being that one in a million? I know, or
should I say knew, an individual that did become a victim of the healthcare system. My
younger brother, Tyler, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in late July
of 2015. His cancer was particularly more advanced than any other of its kind the doctors
had seen at Levines Children Hospital. A very long, difficult, heartbreaking journey later,
Tyler passed away a day after his beloved holiday, Christmas. He barely made it five
months past the date of diagnosis. The doctors said he would make it to Christmas, but
not too far past then. I am not here to express how awful cancer is, especially in
pediatrics. Seventeen years old is not long enough to experience everything life has to
offer. I am here to alert and warn others to learn from the mistakes of my family and I and
to be as prepared as a person can be for the lucky day that you, too, are picked from the
millions of people in the world to experience the corrupt healthcare system and get
swallowed whole by medical bills and debt. It happens to everyone, and I want others to
know that it is not something to be ashamed of because it happens to the best of us, and it
is inescapable.

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Everyone, at some point in his or her life, will personally or indirectly experience
medical debt or bankruptcy. During Tylers illness and following his death, medical bills
filled our mailbox daily, and even four months post-death, we still get these statements
hammering our family to pay unreasonable amounts of money. Even with insurance for a
middle class family, we are at the brink of declaring bankruptcy. Hundreds of thousands
of dollars in outstanding medical costs haunt us every day, and it makes it difficult to pay
when none of the treatments we were charged for were successful in the slightest. I want
to make a difference in peoples lives by letting them know that this is a crappy situation
to be in, but it is completely normal to feel overwhelmed. There are steps that can be
taken to reduce the stress that will accompany the medical costs, and there are ways to
deal with insurance and paying for everything. There is no easing into things, and when
the time comes, a person has to be prepared ahead of time because there will be no time
to talk to someone to find out the best ways to approach everything; it has to be known
ahead of time what to do and how to do it from the get-go. So, how does a person deal
with medical debt and overcome it?
On the American Cancer society page, there is an area of the website designated
to families who have children undergoing treatment for various types of cancer. Of
course, cancer is one of many illnesses a person could face that would break anyones
wallet, but cancer is going to be the topic of discussion because of how influential it has
been on my life the last nine months. Of the many articles on the American Cancer
Society page, the section on Keeping Records of Your Childs Insurance and Medical
Costs caught my attention because it discusses very briefly and generally how to manage
the financial part of having a child with cancer, and reminds families that it is okay to ask

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for extensions on the payment of bills or to ask for payment plans (American Cancer
Society). This website serves as a friendly reminder to families who are under
tremendous stress to get medical bills paid off. This is an excellent suggestion because
companies and providers that will work with closely with its patients frees up money to
pay those who cannot provide payment plans or extend the due date of payments.
In the Hearing brought before the house of representatives, it is pointed out that
there is a strong possibility that the reasons for many peoples bankruptcies is not their
own fault, but the governments fault and how they set up the healthcare system. Each
and every person in the United States is an illness away from filing from bankruptcy, and
the odds for some people are not stacked in their favor (Medical Debt 2). This question
brings up a topic that no one seems to know the answers to: the US has rigged the system
and messed up so bad that not even middle class families can pay for the unlucky draw of
life and the burden of extensive medical bills. Even people with healthcare insurance are
left high and dry when it comes to a serious illness such as cancer. There is no way to
escape the inevitable. I am including this hearing in my research because it reassured
what I have already mentioned about how many people go though this situation, and that
no one is alone in this situation.
In the article published by the Livestrong cooperation on how families are
affected by debt, it explains how debt makes individuals feel (LIVESTRONG).
Everyone, at some point in life, becomes stress. But imagine being stressed,
overwhelmed, and losing a child, mother, or sibling. Now, imagine trying to pay
thousands of dollars worth of medical bills while sick, dying, or in many cases, paying
for a family member who is dead. This tremendous burden is unfathomable to understand

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unless experiencing this particular situation firsthand. Writing an article explaining that
medical debt is a difficult process to go through is an understatement because it is worse
than words can explain. My father hasnt been to a full week of work in almost nine
months. I havent made it a day without crying. My mom has lost almost fifty pounds
since Tyler was diagnosed and passed because she cant hold anything down that she eat,
especially when sorting through bills and seeing the amounts of money we owe, it
physically makes her sick. My older brother has dropped out of school because he cannot
focus on his work. Situations like these are incomprehensible because an outsider cannot
explain how devastating they are and how much of a toll they take on families.
In the clinical research study published by The American Journal of Medicine and
conducted by a group of individuals along side Harvard University, they proved that
medical issues and medical debt take responsibility for over half of the worlds
bankruptcies (Himmelstein 742). Why is this statistic so high? Because all medical
providers, including doctors that perform the procedures to the hospitals that house the
procedures, steal money from us: all of us. They charge off the wall amounts of money
for everything, from saline IVs to pouches of chemotherapy drugs that dont even work.
How much money does it really cost to produce these drugs? How much profit are these
providers making off of clients? It frustrates me that the statistic is so high and nothing is
done about this. Families should not have to pay the amount they are for things that dont
work and are a rip off. It makes my blood boil that people who work in healthcare and
medicine are okay with any of this. Maybe if they took a walk in our shoes they would
not see eye-to-eye anymore with how much of a scam it is. Its a sad, sad world we live in
that things beyond our control can cause bankruptcy. There needs to be a reform made in

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the system to help future victims stay afloat and not be taken advantage of, but the
change has to start within the system, to the people who make the decisions to charge
exponential amounts of money for otherwise inexpensive procedures.
Of the research I have looked at, the most compelling and convincing evidence
was from The American Journal of Medicine. This is hard evidence that proves that we,
United States citizens, are being ripped off and being forced into bankruptcy at others
expense. These doctors and medical facilities reap the benefits, and basically steal
everything we have. A person can plan and be ready for a situation like this, but I dont
think anyone can prepare for how much money goes into the pockets of these thieves. A
person can file bills and make sure they amounts are correct, but the profit off of these
procedures and supplies are exponentially priced because they are life or death supplies.
These supplies are necessities and a person cant live without them, and the people that
sell them know this and take advantage of the situation. It is frustrating, but true, and it
happens to everyone eventually. I want to say that there are ways to help the situation, as
found in my research, but it is hard to avoid the inevitable no matter how hard a person
tries to. The system is infallible and if it wants to claim a victim, there is no stopping it.
These discoveries, such as making file folders to organize papers and working
closely with the providers to discuss what the best method of payment is necessary is
crucial to dealing with the steep medical bills. Knowing what to do and how to handle the
situation, from the start, is a key point to dealing with the debt. I still remain curious on
how to make one hundred percent sure that the amount these providers bill is correct and
that consumers do not pay for a dime of something that went unused or didnt end up
happening. Paperwork and filing will catch the big procedures and medical costs, but

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little things such as gauze, cotton pads, and tape can add up quickly. I would like to trust
that these bills are accurate and that the companies wouldnt charge for something that
wasnt used, but in todays day and age people will try to pull a fast one on clients and
assume they arent keeping track. If I were to continue in this research, I would head in
the direction of finding out how insurance companies reduce bills and settle with
receiving a quarter for every dollar someone owes. I know my family isnt the only one
that believes that the healthcare system overcharges on literally everything, and I would
also look into how much profit is made and how much money consumers would
realistically need to pay in order to cover the costs minimally.

Concerns:

1. Do we HAVE to use all 5 sources if we think that 4 work better than all 5?
2. MLA formatting all ok?
3. Is there anything that needs clarification or revision; doesnt quite make sense?

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Works Cited
Himmelstein, David U, Deborah Thorne, Elizabeth Warren, and Steffie Woolhandler.
"Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National
Study." The American Journal of Medicine. 122.8 (2009): 741-746. Print.
Keeping Records of Your Childs Insurance and Medical Costs. Keeping Records of
Your Childs Insurance and Medical Costs. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2016.
Medical Debt: Is Our Healthcare System Bankrupting Americans? : Hearing Before the
Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law of the Committee on the
Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, First
Session, July 28, 2009. Washington: U.S. G.P.O, 2010. Internet resource.
The Effects of Debt on Families. LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 05 July
2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.