You are correct that they did benefit from it, pretty much any loan or debt did create some immediate benefit for the person that took on the debt. However, unlike college debt, I think it’s safe to say that people with medical debt didn’t sign up to be sick or have a major health issue. Totally different than college debt where people made a conscious decision to get an overpriced degree possibly in a field that doesn’t have any jobs available. That’s just called a bad decision and there is no argument as to why taxpayers should eat that debt.

There are plenty alternatives to college which can lead to great careers. Or, at least go to a community college and/or somewhere cheaper. But, nope, students voluntarily signed up for the loans and didn’t think it through. Sorry, you’ll have to pay that back. Get a second job like many people did before you and pay it down. Might suck for a while. Such is life.

I suspect most people would be far more open to medical debt being forgiven or at least rates dropped to zero than college debt. They aren’t even close to the same thing.