[hooande]

Medical debt is different. The legal system frowns on people running up credit card debt to pay for PS5s or nice vacations with no intention of ever paying it back. That's tantamount to theft. Most medical debt is involuntary and necessary to survive. It doesn't make sense for it to have the same penalties as other forms of credit.

In general in the US, life saving or emergency medical care is administered without regard for the patient's ability to pay. Hospitals are already subsidized or compensated in various ways for this. The real issue is preventative or precautionary care. If Americans had that for free, like with the NHS, there would be fewer $XXX,XXX debts later in life.