Foreclosure map - Oakland and SF

I found this link in a comments section of an article on the SF Chronicle.

Another commenter wrote about this article from 2005 which says half of all personal bankruptcies from 2001 were due to medical bills. That's shocking. And surprisingly more than 75% of those people had health insurance; some lost their insurance during their or their families' illnesses. I think I read somewhere else that that statistic has risen. A large percentage of personal bankruptices are because the medical bills became overwhelming.

Next time you judge someone going through bankruptcy, think on that. Politicians and even credit card companies try to market all people who are having difficult financial times as foolish and spendhappy, and hence laws protecting bankrupted folk are not needed. There ARE plenty of those people but most people are just trying to pay the bills and stay healthy. Just one layoff or extended illness spells big trouble for most of us. I know I basically live paycheck to paycheck though I'm slowly building up savings so it's not close. But no amount of money can make me "safe." You just can't control that much.

Trusting God is sounding pretty good right about now.