In 2003 my high risk pregnancy and delivery expenses out of pocket exceeded $50K; the hospital adjusted the total down to around $30K – we thought it a great kindness when they included "generous" payment terms. Anyway, that contributed in a large part to forcing us to sell out of our little business at the end of 2006. We tried to move forward, but I became disabled and began suffering a constellation of health issues, pushing us further into debt from which we couldn't recover without delcaring bankruptcy in 2009. Later, the ACA was a godsend and kept us out of further financial decline. But, the truth is, in 2022, we're only really just feeling recovered with our heads finally above water; we largely have the pandemic stimulus funds and pandemic-driven pay raises and bonuses for my husband to thank for that. And the WakeMed health complex… bless the entire system and their financial aid provisions which wrote off the thousands upon thousands of dollars our insurance declined to cover during my two separate health crises in 2018 (when I nearly died) and 2021 (a much milder crisis but still pricey).