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By the way, if you'd actually like to do something about this that benefits real people right now, RIP Medical Debt (mentioned in the article and has good ratin
by coffeefirst 4y ago
By the way, if you'd actually like to do something about this that benefits real people right now, RIP Medical Debt (mentioned in the article and has good ratings) buys debt at 1% of its face value and immediately forgives it.
https://ripmedicaldebt.org https://ripmedicaldebt.org
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- boppo1 4y agoThanks, this is awesome I'll keep it in mind!
- antisthenes 4y agoHow can I submit my debt? Or is it kind of a site that buys debt that the hospital has 0% chance of collecting anyway?
- kube-system 4y ago"Buying debt" is analogous to "debt sent to collections" So yes, the latter. Basically, that site helps people to not get phone calls about bills they were never going to pay.
- antisthenes 4y agoRight, which is nice, I guess, but it's more of a feel-good project for those who run it, rather than actual help. 99% of hospitals have financial assistance programs that will either completely eliminate your debt or reduce it by a substantial amount if you fall under a certain bracket of income (usually some multiple 3x or 4x poverty level), which essentially does the same thing. It doesn't address the fact that hospitals prices ballooned out of control due to perverse incentives with insurance companies and dumb regulation that limits profits to a percentage (incentivizing absolute increases in prices, rather than price controls like NHS does)
- willcipriano 4y agoOld medical debt (the kind you get for 1%) doesn't have a big impact on credit scores and don't they owe income tax on the forgiven debt? I wouldn't pay income tax on something like half million dollars for a slightly better chance to be able to take out a loan at what will be 10% or so soon.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]