If it's not too personal (I know people hate discussing finance on the internet), why bankruptcy? Is it just medical costs, or are there other factors (mortgage, student loans, credit card debt, taxes, back rent) involved?

If it's medical costs, there are other routes you can take; I'd speak to your doctors before anything else and let them know what the deal is. I know my psychiatrist has a veritable warehouse of samples he'll toss out if you can't afford a prescription that month or whatever.

There are also companies that you can finance your medical care through if you're temporarily without medicaid. I know I owe MedmaxFinance more money than I'm worth but the payments are low and especially if it's temporary it's worth a shot.

If it's more than that, bankruptcy is an option. It's not the end of the world and won't eliminate your student loan debts but you're going to be living on cash for about five years. My mother, for several reasons, declared and within five years was able to finance a car, rent an apartment with no penalties, etc.

Either way it won't be the end of the world. There are enough people around these days that are looking hard at bankruptcy anyone you owe money to is going to bend over backwards (in most cases) to make sure they're not looking at losing that debt, even if it means they have to lower or postpone your payments until you've got everything figured out.

From personal experience, I've had the same thought, but I've been irresponsible enough for long enough to play the collections game and learn it well.