Collecting debts from the ill and injured: the rhetorical significance, but practical irrelevance, of culpability and ability to pay.

Introduction ........................................................................................230 I. Bankruptcy Filings of the Ill and Injured ................................233 A. Medical-Related Bankruptcy Generally ............................233 B. Medical-Related Chapter 13 Filings; The New Data ........237 II. A Traditional Analysis of the Medical-Related Chapter 13 Findings .....................................................................................239 A. The Centrality of the Discharge for the “Honest and Unfortunate” ......................................................................239 B. Why Chapter 13 is a Risky Form of Bankruptcy, According to the Traditional View, for Debtors With Low Culpability and Weak Repayment Prospects ............241 C. Medical-Related Filers Tend to be Risky Chapter 13 Filers ...................................................................................245 III. A Functional Analysis of Chapter 13 (Or, Why Some Perceive an Ill or Injured Debtor as an Appropriate Chapter 13 Filer After All) ......................................................250 A. The Discharge Reduction Function of Chapter 13..........250 1. Bankruptcy reform rhetoric.........................................250