I'm gonna defend debtors. I volunteer with my church to do taxes and advising to folks struggling.
A lot of folks in Jackie's situation are individuals that went into insane debt for medical stuff for themselves or their kids.
Imagine your 8 year old has a disease or something and you get like $800k of debt keeping them alive. Then, trying to pay this, you are destitute for years.
You get the option to start over or not.
Before anyone argues that bankruptcy is for deadbeats, I got to ask, what do you do in that situation? Me personally? I do the same.
Obviously, this ain't Jackie's situation but please don't paint everyone with her brush. Different situation. We could all end up like this. It's the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US.
If that was my only option, then sure, that's exactly what I'd do. But it would be a last resort. With regard to medical bills, I'd ask both my insurance company and the treatment facility for financial assistance. They'll work with you, even if your bills are insanely high.
It's something I've had to do multiple times. I've been to the ER multiple times. Always gotten an insane bill; ask for financial assistance, and then it's either greatly reduced or expunged altogether. I had to take an ambulance ride one time, too. Same deal. I asked them, they initially said no, you don't qualify. I said OK, paid $20 and they never sent me another bill, so I'm guessing it was discharged because it never appeared on my credit report and I never received a collections call about it.
Despite how broken the American healthcare system is, I've never had medical bills that couldn't be handled by negotiating with my insurance and treatment provider. I understand that everyone's circumstances are different, and if it comes down to it, bankruptcy might be your only option, and assuming you've done everything you could to avoid that, then there's really nothing wrong with it.
If we're talking about a DSP-type situation where you are just completely financially irresponsible and incompetent, that's another thing altogether. I use credit cards. In fact I have over 17 credit cards; but I can do that because I know what I'm doing. I don't use credit cards to buy things I can't afford. Any time I buy something, it's backed by money I already have.