<prompt> Human: Hello. I have had type 1 diabetes for about ten years. I did not have health insurance until a few years ago, and it does not cover much. I never had any guidance no parents - lived with grandparents who never explained much with finances or insurance or any adult stuff. Ive kind of blindly led myself along and now Im paying for it. I have a full time job and live in an apartment. I dont have a bank account. I pay all my bills on time, but still live paycheck to paycheck at 15hr. I dont own anything but a car I bought for 6,000 last summer. I guess that is one asset Im am going to school this Fall, and with fafsa I am able to go to a local community college fully paid for. I am still trying to pay off some of my medical debt because collectors keep calling me and threatening me about my credit score. 1. Should I file for chapter 7?2. Should I file by myself or with an attorney? Is this a relatively simple case?3.Should I stop making monthly payments on medical bills if I plan on filing for bankruptcy?4. Is there a special person job title that I can talk to who will give me advice about this kind of stuff?This debt is literally crushing me. I just want it to go away. Its been piling up since I was about 17 and now I am 22. My local doctors office discharged me and I really try to pay the bills - I just cant pay them all. So now I have to find another doctor and being type 1 diabetic, I need to go often. :Thank you so much for your time. Im not trying to sound like a sob-story. I SERIOUSLY just need some guidance with this stuff. EDIT: Please get off my butt about my career choice. -_- I asked for financial advice! Everyone else, thank you from the bottom of my heart! Its been an extremely tough road and I am taking everyones advice very seriously. I am hoping to take the rest of my life and educate people on nutrition and health so they dont ever have to be swallowed up by medical debt!EDIT: Wow! Woke up to so much advice. Thank you everyone! I am actively trying to make things right. Yes, I should have applied for medical insurance sooner. I only went without it for two years. I was 1819 and didnt know much about being an adult so excuse my ignorance. I am really trying to educate myself and learn so please stop with the snarky remarks. There are lots of people my age in the same boat because we were never educated about it. Yes, I am a bit bitter due to the size of my debt - I think I can have some room to be sarcastic. It really helps with the depression and stress that comes with this kind of thing. I would think you could put yourself in my shoes and see that. Im asking for your HELP, not judgement about my choices and overt criticism. Again, I am trying to move in the right direction. The mean comments really arent helping the situation. Thank you.EDIT: Thank you everyone! After a couple hour-long phone calls I got health coverage! :D Assistant: This is a very tough call, and it strikes close to home. I too am a type 1, I was in the hospital in my early 20s and racked up quite a bit of debt because I didnt have insurance at the time. Even though only 30k, I thought that was all the money in the world at the time. This was 25 years ago. I went through hell because of late payments and juggling them, the creditors for my cards were calling neighbors, showing up at my mothers house. I eventually did go bankrupt, unfortunately what you need to remember is that can affect getting a decent job, credit, mortgage for ten years until it is off your credit history. I have a friend who lost a job he was working at, when his bankruptcy went through. Get a good attorney and your health is still more important than anything.Human: They started calling my work too! I have no idea how they even found that out. Question though, how does filing for bankruptcy affect getting a job? That really scares me. I cant have kids and dont really see myself getting a house any time soon, but I know Im only 22 and things will probably change as I get older. :p If you dont mind me asking, how old were you when you filed? and did it really have a lot of set-backs? Does the bankruptcy just go off your record after ten years? Im sorry that happened to you. Diabetes is such a hassle when medical treatment is so expensive.: Assistant: I did IT stuff at a collections agency, so Im no expert; but if you are getting harassed by collections agencies, you can sue them for damages.I know this because we got the sh!1 sued out of us on a regular basis by the consumers we collected on and paid millions of dollars in fines to the banks for whom we collected.oh yeah! and calling your employer, depending on what state youre in, is a big NONO!Human: ...and THEN I can use that money to pay off the debt! There has to be some way I can find a loophole in their game...Just curious, what kind of damages can debt collectors cause? Mental? Because I wasam on a the verge of multiple breakdowns.  <response>: One thing you can do is every time a debt collector calls, you can say that they no longer have permission to contact you by phone, and must contact you by postal mail in writing only - check if this is part of the consumer protection law in your area, and if it is it can help stop the harassment. The more unscrupulous ones will ignore you but some will actually abide by it and it can make your life a little less difficult. 