In my experience, they sell the debt to a collection agency and you start getting nasty phone calls. That, on top of the other stuff you would expect like credit history hits. These charges I got insurance to figure out they were bogus, like billed for receiving treatments my grandmother never got, medications never administered, you name it. Took a lot of phone calls and getting a lawyer though. The whole system is irredeemable.
US healthcare is full of waste, greed, and deception. For how much we pay as a country, we should be getting better outcomes and our healthcare workers should be paid better, but neither is happening.
at least where I am in texas, they tell you what it will cost before you go. When I was in utah, I asked them beforehand what it would cost and they said it would be impossible to know until after the procedure was done. The front desk person said even they weren’t even allowed to know the prices beforehand.
OH MY GOD THEY CALL YOU. THE HORROR! WHATEVER WILL I DO?
Seriously, though, who cares? All you gotta do is not pick up the phone. If you’re younger than 40, you’re not answering calls from random numbers anyway. So they ding your credit. Big freakin’ deal. Credit scores are pointless since none of us can afford to use credit anyway. And it all goes away after 7 years, like it never happened.
The only people who agree to pay hospital bills they can’t afford are suckers.
This comment is so out of touch that it sounds like you’re drowning in a swimming pool of gold wtf.
I can barely afford regular-ass doctor’s appointments and my monthly meds. My credit score and abysmal income literally defines where I can rent an apartment, and that’s why my commute is over 40 minutes via highway without traffic.
If I go to the hospital and it’s not worker’s comp, I’m SUPER DUPER FUCKED, and I know that’s a pretty typical situation.
Medical debt will ruin a person’s credit record, denying them access to housing and even some employment. It absolutely does matter and is not trivial.
In my experience, they sell the debt to a collection agency and you start getting nasty phone calls. That, on top of the other stuff you would expect like credit history hits. These charges I got insurance to figure out they were bogus, like billed for receiving treatments my grandmother never got, medications never administered, you name it. Took a lot of phone calls and getting a lawyer though. The whole system is irredeemable.
US healthcare is full of waste, greed, and deception. For how much we pay as a country, we should be getting better outcomes and our healthcare workers should be paid better, but neither is happening.
at least where I am in texas, they tell you what it will cost before you go. When I was in utah, I asked them beforehand what it would cost and they said it would be impossible to know until after the procedure was done. The front desk person said even they weren’t even allowed to know the prices beforehand.
That was a federal law change, not a Texas law. You think Texas politicians give a fuck about their constituents?
Which not all hospitals are following… The fine for breaking the law is less then the “competitive advantage” of screwing over consumers.
https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/hospital-and-insurer-price-transparency-rules-now-effect-but-compliance-still-far-away
good to know. yeah, it didn’t seem like the kind of thing for texas to do on its own.
But! But! Capitalism is efficient! /s
OH MY GOD THEY CALL YOU. THE HORROR! WHATEVER WILL I DO?
Seriously, though, who cares? All you gotta do is not pick up the phone. If you’re younger than 40, you’re not answering calls from random numbers anyway. So they ding your credit. Big freakin’ deal. Credit scores are pointless since none of us can afford to use credit anyway. And it all goes away after 7 years, like it never happened.
The only people who agree to pay hospital bills they can’t afford are suckers.
This comment is so out of touch that it sounds like you’re drowning in a swimming pool of gold wtf.
I can barely afford regular-ass doctor’s appointments and my monthly meds. My credit score and abysmal income literally defines where I can rent an apartment, and that’s why my commute is over 40 minutes via highway without traffic.
If I go to the hospital and it’s not worker’s comp, I’m SUPER DUPER FUCKED, and I know that’s a pretty typical situation.
Grow the fuck up.
Medical debt will ruin a person’s credit record, denying them access to housing and even some employment. It absolutely does matter and is not trivial.
He was down voted, because he told the horrifying truth.
The latest version of FICO doesn’t even account for medical debt under a certain amount.
If enough people just stopped paying, the whole thing would collapse. But there’s always someone who gets scared and pays up.