Health Debt as Moral Injury

Yacob understood that systems could damage people's very sense of self and possibility. Health debt—both the actual financial burden and the deferred medical needs—wounds dignity in specific ways. Someone avoiding treatment for treatable illness because of cost bears not only physical harm but also the psychological weight of being valued less than others. They internalize the message that their health matters less because they have less money. Medical debt creates impossible choices: pursue treatment and lose housing, or preserve housing and lose health. This is not merely financial hardship; it is a systematic message about worth. Yacob's concept of dignity as foundational means health debt is not morally acceptable because it says some people's bodies are dispensable. This concept identifies health debt not as regrettable but as a structural violence. It reframes health-debt forgiveness and free healthcare not as generosity but as restoration of dignity and recognition of equal worth.