Irishman may lose his home over ex-wife’s medical bills

That's America for you. The guy was able to accumulate two homes on a minimum wage salary. He was given the freedom to gamble on not paying for insurance in an effort to acquire more assets. His gamble did not pay off. But at least will able to use some of his accumulated assets to pay off his wife's debt. He is still left with his primary residence and will not need to rely on state assistance to survive. He still maintains his dignity and independence. Had he lived in a country where the state provides for his welfare, there is no way that he could have accumulated what he did from the tiny slice of his gross pay that would have remained after the deduction of taxes. Why do people treat medical care differently than any other consumer good. We can't live without food either, but the state doesn't just give it to us for free. God bless America, and may you always remember that you are at your best when you stay the hell out of my life.

JOHNTOBIN I believe the reason a portion of Americans are so afraid of public healthcare is because of the power of the FOX cable network in the States. When healthcare was first proposed, Fox banged the drum against it 24/7 scaring old and young with threats of death panels and such. This is all concocted by the GOP and "for profit" healthcare lobbies that spend millions in Washington and fed all this fear so their profits won't be affected.

A mate of mine in Brooklyn had a breakdown back in 2000 when she was 24. She admitted herself to a mental health facility for a few months and she had to declare bankruptcy. The Irish health system may not be perfect but everyone gets treated and no one looses their home to get treated. This is a disgusting way to treat your citizens.

thats america for you, all mouth and no brains,

I cannot understand why many people in America are scared stiff of a Public Health System.I feel,in many cases,they have been brow beaten into thinking that it is communistic.I have heard that many Americans will be paying off medical bills for the rest of their lives.

Australia is another country with a top-notch free hospital system. So is Canada.

What kind of a mean-spirited country would allow anyone to loose their homes to pay medical bills.The U.S.claims to be a first world counry,it has a third world medical system. Wake up America.

Thank the good Lord for the National Health Service here in the UK. Paid for out of our payroll taxes (a special one called National Insurance, which also covers the State old-age pension), it offers a cradle to grave service, nobody is discriminated again. Sure there's the odd scandal from time to time, and the odd bit of pennypinching, but overall it is the finest health service in the world for everyday, working people. There is no chance of being made bankrupt for medical bills in this country because there aren't any. It was introduced in 1947, but had we dithered and tried to introduce it now, there would be no way we could afford to do it from scratch. I'm afraid you are stuck with your health system forever now because people like Ronald Reagan denounced it as "socialized medicine" at a time when you could have afforded to introduce it.

At the time the bills were incurred, they were legally married and I will bet that he signed for responsiblity for the bills. Just because they were divorced after the bills were incurred does not necessarily get him off the hook, sorry to say. Look to the divorce decree - did the court dictate her to be responsible for any and all debts she incurred during the marriage and were outstanding for payment at the time of the divorce? Was it a divorce of convenience to avoid paying the medical bills? He only has one underaged child at this time to support. Why does he think he has to leave his sons anything? He is 61 and has a number of years yet to work. Banruptcy will not work here as they are looking at seizing rental property, not the house he lives in. The Bankruptcy court would also take the rental property to satisfy the debt so that is not a workable idea at all. The best solution would have been to work a long time ago with the medical facility to get the debt reduced and on a payment plan. I don't have a lot of sympathy here unless there is a lot of past detail that is not given. He owes his sons nothing upon his death. He most likely signed for responsiblity and it was most likely a divorce to avoid this type of debt payment. Best resort - go after his divorce attorney who let the situation get out of hand by not dealing with the debt issue properly - most likely

What is the fuss? They were married when the medical care started and that made him jointly liable. If you want to get peeved, I divorced and then discovered my ex had falsified our tax return to pocket a sizeable and undeserved refund - and the IRS came after me even when I was disabled and unemployed with a broken neck and she was working as a school teacher (using the degree I paid for). When I questioned them about this the IRS told me, "Oh, we never go after the ex-wife in a case like this."

H probably needs to contact a bankruptcy lawyer, if he hasn't already.

Medical bankruptcies - only in America.