State Rep. Joe Bertram is declaring bankruptcy because he says he can�t afford medical expenses from an illness that hospitalized him last year.

The Maui Democrat says in his Jan. 28 bankruptcy filing that he owes more than $51,000 to creditors and has only $1,600 in assets.
Bertram, D-11th (South Maui), was hospitalized in May 2009 with toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease he may have caught while cleaning his cat�s litter box. His bankruptcy filing says the illness left with him more than $30,000 in medical bills.
Bertram says he didn�t have health insurance at the time of his illness because he hadn�t signed up for medical coverage provided by the state to its legislators.
Bertram was diagnosed with HIV more than a decade ago.