I mean, if it hits here in a big way something is going to have to happen with this. Whether you're in a hospital for a 2 week quarantine, or laid up in bed for 2 weeks because you're sick -- either way you're going to have 2 weeks where you aren't working.

Beyond that, if it REALLY hits here, you're going to have entire businesses shut down temporarily. I saw a CDC estimate that if it goes pandemic, we should expect 40% - 70% of the population to contract it. Imagine your place of employment, but with half of its employees out sick.

Either way you're going to have 2 weeks where you aren't working, but in one of the ways you also have a $100,000+ bill.

I can survive 2 weeks without work, but I simply can't pay a bill like that no matter what I do.

This is why I said they're going to have to do something. When quarantines are imposed there is going to have to be some national consideration paid to these questions.

We are talking about quarantines. In other words, forced. Containing the virus as much as possible is well within the sphere of national security concerns. I don't know what the answer is, but if the CDC, HHS, and the government writ large are going to be serious about containing it, they are going to have to come up with some sort of solution that most definitely does not discourage people from self-reporting illness, and also doesn't bankrupt the populace.

This is the sort of thing one would worry about in developing countries. It's so sad that it's an issue in one of the richest countries on the planet.

Not just sad, but terrifying.

Imagine you have no insurance, had contact with a coronavirus case, and are now feeling ill. What do you do?

If you do the right thing, you're looking at a 100% chance of having your financial life permanently destroyed.

If you just stay home and ride it out, it looks like you've got an 80% or so (correct me if I'm wrong?) chance of being perfectly fine in a week or two.

2 weeks is a mild case. Severe cases last up to 6 weeks.