Uninsured challenger of President’s healthcare law files for bankruptcy

In an ironic twist of fate, one of the lead challengers of President Obama’s healthcare law was forced to file for bankruptcy listing $4,500 in medical bills as debts.

Mary Brown, 56, is from Florida where she owned a small auto repair shop and had no health insurance. As a small business owner, Brown opposed the Healthcare mandate and refused to obtain her own health insurance.

Brown became the lead plaintiff in a challenge filed by the National Federation of Independent business, which the Supreme Court will hear later this month. Brown didn’t want to pay for health insurance and did feel like the government had the right to force her to purchase it.

But court records show that last fall, Brown and her husband had to file for bankruptcy, which include $4,500 in medical debt. When Brown spoke to the Los Angeles Times, she asserted that the medical bills belonged to her husband. Her bankruptcy attorney noted that the couple has an additional $55,000 in debt and the bankruptcy is due to her failing business.

The lawyers representing the Obama administration says this is an example of why the mandate exists and that at some point a person is going to need healthcare.

Medical bills contribute to a large number of bankruptcy filings. Sixty-two percent of the clients hire bankruptcy lawyers have medical debt. For some people, who have accumulated overwhelming debt, they have very few options, but with the representation of a bankruptcy attorney they can reduce or eliminate some of the bills that they are unable to pay.