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> Since 2014, R.I.P. Medical Debt estimates that it has eliminated more than $11 billion of debt … Is this before or after it has been sold to collection agenc
by xyst 3y ago
> Since 2014, R.I.P. Medical Debt estimates that it has eliminated more than $11 billion of debt …
Is this before or after it has been sold to collection agencies?
If it’s before, that’s kind of amazing. But if it’s after then the hospital billing departments often sell this debt to collection agencies for cents on the dollar.
Paying off $11B in the past 10 years is more of a transfer of wealth to the collection agencies.
I’m honestly not surprised paying off the medical debt doesn’t help.
- wincy 3y agoI believe RIP Medical Debt ARE the “collection agency”. They buy the medical debt for cents on the dollar from the hospital, then cancel it out.
- xyst 3y agoOh wow then the $11B is not really representative of what was paid then. Seems more like $100M paid to hospitals in exchange for writing off $11B. $100M over a 10 year period doesn’t make the headlines though :(
- toast0 3y agoFrom the paper describing this experiment, they did one trial with buying fresh debt, for 5.5 cents per dollar, direct from the healthcare provider. But, the second experiment and most of RIP's operations buy older debt that's going for one cent or less per dollar. I imagine RIP reports in face value of the debt purchased. It sounds better.