America Leads the World in Medical Bankruptcies!

America is grossly abnormal in the amount of citizens who lose their life savings, homes and possessions due to medical bankruptcies after or during an illness or injury. This information is being reported by the legacy media for the first time, presumably because the medical industry buys so much advertisement time/space in the media.

Having been raised by parents who were in the medical industry (nurse/paramedic) I was taught that much of the high cost of medical attention was due to a combination of required malpractice insurance by hospitals and medical staff along with hospital’s obvious price gouging.

“The Curious Case of the $629 Band-Aid” – WNYC Studios

I remember one particular time back in the day when they still produced itemized bills. After I was in the hospital, my parents shared with me a bill that showed a box of facial tissues that were $25 that were only $2.50 in our local store. I said, “Wow, that is clearly price gouging!” Mom replied, “That is why you see all of these big, beautiful, new, hospitals built without a taxpayer referendum unlike our schools require. Those hospitals are privately held.”

But even though my parents were right with their above talking points, the problem is even bigger than what they spoke to. The problem is those who profit off of the illnesses/injuries of others and that includes:

• Big Pharma
• Insurance Companies
• The AMA and Hospitals
• The Media
• The ABA and Litigation
• Political Lobbyists
• American Political Leaders

Essentially the system is rigged against American citizens and because this status quo has been going on for so long, it will prove to be very hard to change in the future. In this experiment we call America this is one thing we got very wrong.

There are some informative posts on social media that call out the problem bringing receipts:

It is a verifiable fact that America has the highest rate of medical induced bankruptcies of all other nations of the world. The number one cause of bankruptcies in America right now is people’s need to pay medical bills.

CONCLUSION:

Now I know some are going to want to jump on me saying such things as, “Sure, you can have your socialized medicine to keep your house and you can have waiting periods to see a doctor in a matter of months rather than days!” In some countries, these critics are not wrong.

But still, in the richest country of the world it is truly insane one segment of our society, the medical industry, can be allowed to take everything we have worked for our entire lives just to pay our medical debts. No other country suffers this way, why should we?

I can offer 5 short anecdotal stories of issues I have observed in my life that highlight problems that need to be addressed by our political leaders relative to the healthcare industry.

1. Medical malpractice insurance – I have seen several instances where malpractice insurance was so high for specific areas of medical practice (OB-GYN and anesthesiologist), the costs outpaced the doctor’s salaries such that they had to quit and move to other parts of the nation where hospitals were willing to underwrite part of that cost and the insurance cost was less in this other state.

2. I once attended a seminar where a major insurance company admitted their business model called for them to see profits of 80% with claims paid out of only 20% yearly. At the time I was selling computers as a side business and my profits to cost of goods sold was exactly the opposite.

“Insurance Industry is Quietly Making Record Profits” – Illinois Trial Lawyers Assoc.

3. When I was a kid, commercial advertising was banned for both the alcohol industry as well as the tobacco industry after they lied to the public relative to product liability. Before that ban, commercials for smokes and beer ruled the airwaves of television broadcasts and magazine pages. Today it is ruled by Big Pharma drug companies. Those drug companies just lied during the COVID-19 pandemic misrepresenting the safety and efficacy of their products so they should now be banned as well… or I want to see those Bud Light commercials back on air!

“Commercial Budweiser Farting horse this is funny” – comedianoos

4. I recently had an older gentleman as my cardiologist. He educated me about the need to lower my LDL cholesterol in my diet as well as the fact that heart disease is the number one killer of Americans. I knew neither of these facts before. This begs the question: Why aren’t LDL cholesterol levels posted on all of our food products by Federal law?

5. Just before I lost my elderly cardiologist to retirement I asked him, “So I just read where many of the COVID-19 vaccines are not really vaccines at all but experimental drugs without an informed consent form and a very high death rate. Meanwhile, both hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin didn’t cost a single patient their life. Why don’t we have holistic medicine practiced in this country offering more natural cures? He smiled and said, “The AMA and Big Pharma would never allow that!”

In the meantime, I am taking my Repatha but also eating almonds to reduce my LDL cholesterol so as to avoid another heart attack. 

This is an ongoing story as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Donald Trump have recently addressed the issue of medical insurance during the government shutdown this weekend.

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump has officially BACKED the Senate’s plan to reopen the government, which gives NO money to illegals or Obamacare

At least TEN Democrats are already on board to end their shutdown.

HOLD THE LINE! Do NOT give in to Schumer’s demands.

A vote is… pic.twitter.com/BCHktRp41A

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) November 9, 2025

© 2025 by Mark S. Schwendau

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Thinking Conservative.