The quality of health care in the United States is considered by many to be among the best in the world. This is no less true in Maryland, home of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, which is considered by many to be among the best hospitals in the nation. The high quality of health care can also come at a high cost. People who have suffered unexpected medical emergencies often end up with high amounts of debt. Bankruptcy can offer people assistance with resolving the problems that mounting health care bills can cause.

In one case, a woman was having breathing issues and found out from her physician that she needed open heart surgery to replace a faulty valve in her heart. Complications that resulted from the surgery required her to remain in the hospital for more than a month. The resulting medical bills amounted to over $600,000, and though the woman was employed, she did not have medical insurance available through her job.

Medical debt is cited for about two thirds of the bankruptcy filings each year. Many people fear that they are an illness or accident away from suffocating debt as a result of lack of health insurance or insufficient health insurance. While filing for bankruptcy can seem scary, it can offer a person a way to rebuild one’s future and get out from under what may seem to be insurmountable debt.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows a person to restructure debt and pay down balances over time. A person in Maryland who finds him or herself struggling with medical debt might derive some benefit from seeking out the council of an attorney experienced in dealing with bankruptcy proceedings. A knowledgeable attorney can provide information on restructuring one’s debts and helping a person to come up with a plan to gradually reduce the debt load.