3 ms·

If you have obscene hospital bills, just don't pay them. Worst case scenario, you will get sued and have a lien put on your house.This still doesn't obligate yo

If you have obscene hospital bills, just don't pay them. Worst case scenario, you will get sued and have a lien put on your house.This still doesn't obligate you to pay. You can just let inflation eat away at the bill for years on end. People need to hit these profiteering practices right in the wallet. I'll take bad credit over actual bankruptcy any day.

chasd00 4y ago
I agree, never ever pay a medical bill as printed. They're just trolling for suckers. It's one of the shadiest things out there, they're just looking for people that will pay the full amount because that's what the bill says. Medical bills are always negotiable to such a degree that the printed bill is effectively meaningless.
notch656a 4y ago
Lol I got some medical bills when police dragged me to the hospital against my will (not psych related, insane warrantless attempt to search me "internally" for drugs, never consented to anything, was not intoxicated and doctors documented I was completely asymptomatic and non-altered mental status) >People need to hit these profiteering practices right in the wallet. Here in Arizona there is a hospital system that appears to be using false smuggling accusations as a racket in connection with CBP officers. "Patients" are forcibly taken in, rack up huge medical bills, and then when nothing is found they're dumped back on the street with the debt. Keep getting the bills. Can't wait for them to actually sue so I can discovery them for any shred of evidence what they did was legal.
- potta_coffee 4y ago
  I remember reading a detailed story of a guy in Arizona who experienced this. He ended up suing the state (he was arrested by state police) and the doctor and won, but it was a long battle. I wish I had a link. Sounds like a horror story, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
klyrs 4y ago
> You can just let inflation eat away at the bill for years on end. Can we really? Wouldn't that require that our income tracks inflation? Because that's not true for perhaps most people in the US. Only executive-level income is beating inflation. I think the option most available is to die poor and have your pitiful assets distributed to your creditors.
- antisthenes 4y ago
  It's still way better to die poor than to live AND die poor. At least if you don't pay the medical bills, you'll have a little bit more money while you live, making it less miserable.

chasd00 4y ago

I agree, never ever pay a medical bill as printed. They're just trolling for suckers. It's one of the shadiest things out there, they're just looking for people that will pay the full amount because that's what the bill says. Medical bills are always negotiable to such a degree that the printed bill is effectively meaningless.

notch656a 4y ago

Lol I got some medical bills when police dragged me to the hospital against my will (not psych related, insane warrantless attempt to search me "internally" for drugs, never consented to anything, was not intoxicated and doctors documented I was completely asymptomatic and non-altered mental status) >People need to hit these profiteering practices right in the wallet. Here in Arizona there is a hospital system that appears to be using false smuggling accusations as a racket in connection with CBP officers. "Patients" are forcibly taken in, rack up huge medical bills, and then when nothing is found they're dumped back on the street with the debt. Keep getting the bills. Can't wait for them to actually sue so I can discovery them for any shred of evidence what they did was legal.

potta_coffee 4y ago
I remember reading a detailed story of a guy in Arizona who experienced this. He ended up suing the state (he was arrested by state police) and the doctor and won, but it was a long battle. I wish I had a link. Sounds like a horror story, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

klyrs 4y ago

> You can just let inflation eat away at the bill for years on end. Can we really? Wouldn't that require that our income tracks inflation? Because that's not true for perhaps most people in the US. Only executive-level income is beating inflation. I think the option most available is to die poor and have your pitiful assets distributed to your creditors.

antisthenes 4y ago
It's still way better to die poor than to live AND die poor. At least if you don't pay the medical bills, you'll have a little bit more money while you live, making it less miserable.