Bankruptcy

Generally, yes. Usually, medical bills are “unsecured debt”, similar to credit card debt, meaning that it is a debt that is not backed by a pledge of property or assets (like your home or car). For this reason, the best course of action may be to resist taking out a home equity, or other "secured" line of credit to pay-off medical bills. The result of doing so would be to change the status of the otherwise unsecured debt to secured debt which may not be dischargeable in bankruptcy proceedings.