WAILUKU - State Rep. Joe Bertram III has declared bankruptcy for a second time, saying he is unable to cover medical expenses from an illness that hospitalized him last year.
The South Maui Democrat filed for bankruptcy Jan. 28, declaring that he owes $51,386 to creditors and has only $1,607 in personal assets.
In addition to his medical bills, the filing showed that he owes $9,493 in unpaid taxes and other debts to the government. Bertram said the tax debts represented a payment made several years ago to his nonprofit organization that the IRS later determined was taxable income.
Bertram was hospitalized in May 2009 with toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease he apparently caught while cleaning his cat's litter box. The illness left him with $30,523 in medical bills, according to his bankruptcy filing.
"We tried so many different ways to figure out how we could get through it, but (bankruptcy) was the only option as far as being able to settle this responsibly," he said.
Although legislators are provided medical benefits by the state, Bertram said he did not have insurance at the time of his illness because he had not signed up for coverage.
Bertram said he didn't think he needed insurance because he was healthy.
"At the time I thought: 'I'm never going to a hospital. I don't want to see a doctor.' I just wanted to stay healthy and unfortunately my body didn't cooperate," he said.
He said he has since signed up for coverage.
"I'm on insurance now - HMSA, hooray," he said. "I guess it just shows you don't know what's going to happen and you have to cover yourself."
Bertram was diagnosed with HIV more than a decade ago, but has said he manages the illness successfully with a raw, vegetarian diet, exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
He previously filed for bankruptcy in 1996, and has said his illness contributed to him falling into credit card debt.
The largest of Bertram's medical bills from his 2009 hospitalization is $26,568 owed to Maui Memorial Medical Center. He also owes smaller amounts to Kaiser Permanente, Maui Medical Group, Maui Radiology Associates, Med Hawaii Inc. and Pan Pacific Pathologies, according to his bankruptcy filing.
Other debts listed in the filing include $3,916 in credit card debts from 2000 to 2009; $1,095 in medical bills from 2008 to 2009; and $4,986 for a 2007 auto loan on which he was a co-signer.
Personal assets listed on his filing include two cars valued at a combined $1,000, $500 in household goods, $100 in clothing and just $7 in his checking account. It reports an annual income of $47,568.
Bertram's bankruptcy also lists $9,493 in money owed to the government.
That includes $796 in undated general excise taxes owed to the state, $1,323 in 2007 federal income taxes and $4,358 in 2002 federal income taxes.
Bertram said the tax debts stem from a payment made several years ago, before he was a legislator, to his nonprofit organization, Greenways Maui, for consulting services he provided to a consultant for a developer. The Internal Revenue Service later told him the payment was taxable income, he said.
"I'm paying it down," he said.
Bertram also owes the state $368 and the federal Social Security Administration $2,648 for disability overpayments he must return to the government.
Bertram is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, under which a trustee gathers and sells a debtor's nonexempt assets and uses the proceeds to pay creditors.
Maui County Republican Party Chairman John Henry said he regarded Bertram as a friend, and was sorry to hear about his troubles.
"My heart goes out to the guy," he said. "I know he had some medical problems. I wouldn't want to see this happen to anybody."
Henry said the GOP had a "good candidate" for the office in retired Maui police Capt. George Fontaine, but didn't think that Bertram's recent bankruptcy would be an issue in the election. Instead, he said he believed Bertram's support of civil unions would be a bigger concern for voters.
"I think that had more of an impact on people wanting to see him unseated, more than his financial status," Henry said.
Jonathan Starr, one of the Maui representatives to the Democratic State Central Committee, said he supports Bertram.
"Joe Bertram's really an honest and honorable guy who's really trying very hard to do the right thing," he said. "We're really glad he's been able to overcome a lot of his health issues, and we're sure he will work his way through his current financial problems. It just goes to show how difficult it can be for working people, and the problems with our current health care system."
Starr also didn't think Bertram would be hurt politically by bankruptcy.
"I think Joe's constituents really know him for the good and hardworking guy that he is, and I think they'll be rooting for him," he said.
* Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.
