Interesting. But strictly speaking you’re not inheriting debt. You were liable for the debt all the time.

I would agree with that assessment but for the fact that while alive the parent's medical debt can't be forced upon family members. It's a weird debt and I agree it isn't quite the same as inheriting it but I also think it isn't the same a jointly assumed liability while the parent is alive. The family members presumably have no say in whether or not the parent assumes the medical debt.