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I've just ignored any medical bill I don't agree with or think was fair ($10k+ worth in the last 10 years). At least in new york state there has been no downsid

by cm2012 1y ago

I've just ignored any medical bill I don't agree with or think was fair ($10k+ worth in the last 10 years). At least in new york state there has been no downside for me. It never went on my credit score and I bought a house a few years ago.

toomuchtodo 1y ago
I want to stress that this is not universal, and in some states, medical providers are pursuing this debt aggressively. This is not to say you should not be aggressive in countering their claims (I do this for folks in a volunteer capacity), but you should be knowledgeable as to your potential credit and financial risk exposure before proceeding. NPR Investigation: Many U.S. hospitals sue patients for debts or threaten their credit - https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/21/1144491711/investigation-many-u-s-hospitals-sue-patients-for-debts-or-threaten-their-credit https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/21/1144491... - December 21st, 2022 Some Hospitals Kept Suing Patients Over Medical Debt Through the Pandemic - https://www.propublica.org/article/some-hospitals-kept-suing-patients-over-medical-debt-through-the-pandemic https://www.propublica.org/article/some-hospitals-kept-suing... - June 14th, 2021
jack_tripper 1y ago
>I've just ignored any medical bill As a not-American, I wonder what are the rules of this "game". Can anyone in the US just ignore their bills and debt and it's all ignored anyway? Because in most European countries, debt is a very serious thing. Even small debt like an unpaid 50 Euro bill can be sold to debt collectors who can seize your property or garnish your wage, pension or bank accounts to pay your debt plus the collection fee, so people here are incredibly weary of unpaid bills or taking debt for unnecessary things other than houses or cars.
- giancarlostoro 1y ago
  Homeless people do. Personally I rather pay something, but I'm not spending tens of thousands if that's not what everyone else is paying uniform. This is why there's no transparency on hospital prices, because nobody is ever billed the same, ever. Someone's bill is offsetting the losses from someone else.
- jacquesm 1y ago
  It would be quite hard to run up a million euros in debt to a hospital in Europe, but in the USA that is not at all unheard of.
  - jack_tripper 1y ago
    You're missing the point completely. I was not talking about why hospital debt is big, but the difference in how debt in general of all sizes gets collected. Because in most of Europe even a 50 Euro debt will be collected, medical or not. while in the US it seems you can live just fine with a lot of debt that somehow nobody bothers to collect. And your hospital in Europe DOES collect the half million Euro bill, for say a heart transplant, from your insurance company. You just never see the massive bill because it goes directly to your insurer but someone always pays.
    - jacquesm 1y ago
      I've paid out of pocket for a medical procedure in Europe and the price was a very small fraction of what it would have been in the US. The 50 buck debt in europe will be collected because it is an actual debt, not something some hospital made up. See TFA.
      - jack_tripper 1y ago
        >I've paid out of pocket for a medical procedure in Europe For a second time in a row now you're deviating again from the topic of my point of debt collection just to go on an off-topic rant again on how expensive the US is compared to what you did in Europe. Why do you keep doing this? Are you trolling or is it some attention deficit disorder I should account for? Forget about medical bills. Let's say you have 50 Euro debt from an unpaid internet/electricity bill if that makes it easier for you to get out of the medical conversation into the debt collation US vs EU topic. In the US you can doge unpaid bills and rack up debt with little to no consequences, while in the EU not since the government goes after you, which makes the debt situation for US citizens incomparable to Europeans. Are you following so far or are you still fixated on how cheap medical bills are for you in Europe? >The 50 buck debt in europe will be collected because it is an actual debt, not something some hospital made up. How do you decide what is actual debt and what is made up? With that logic then all debt is made up because all money in circulation is made up and all prices are made up. I'm gonna walk out of the restaurant without paying the bill because we all know the 200 Euros for a steak is a made up price.
- cm2012 1y ago
  Basically the only thing debt collectors can do in the US (if the amount is too small to justify a lawsuit) is harass you with phone calls. I have DND except for contacts on anyway so I dont notice it. Edit: also credit score of course. Almost anything does affect your score. Except for medical stuff for me for some reason - I have a good credit score.
  - jack_tripper 1y ago
    Damn, well in that case that explains why a lot of people in the US can be in debt yet so care free, which is unthinkable to us here in Europe as even small debts carry consequences.
    - alistairSH 1y ago
      That was an overly simplistic response. We do have credit scores in the US, and defaulting on medical bills can (but doesn't always) impact someone's score. Without a high score, you don't get the best interest rates on loans. Or, might not be eligible for a security clearance (government work) or jobs in some industries (banking and other "high trust" fields). Or might not be able to rent an apartment. But, the other response wasn't incorrect. We don't have debtors prisons (unless the debt is owed to the government, then they might be able to jail you).
      - timeon 1y ago
        Credit score is another thing I have hard time comprehend. I wanted to borrow car outside of EU and was not unable to because there was no record on me with some private company that stored data about credit cards. That was wild experience - like some social credit in China. I just prefer rule of law than these hacks on society.
        alistairSH 1y ago
        How do they track credit-worthiness inside the EU? I thought Germany had something equivalent? Maybe it's government-managed instead of private? Not that I like the US system, but it sort of makes sense (barely).
giancarlostoro 1y ago
Sometimes you can haggle them. Just be careful, because you might find yourself in a situation where no healthcare provider wants to let you in because you owe them a "fortune" you must always haggle the billing.
harambae 1y ago
I did this once and, while there were no legal repercussions, the medical collection agency started calling my aging mother in the middle of the night (she still has a landline phone that will go off). Of course, I hadn't actually lived there since I was a teenager over a decade ago, and I'm sure they knew that, but the harassment tactic worked and I just paid it.
pessimizer 1y ago
Hot off the presses: Judge Scraps Rule Eliminating Medical Debt on Credit Reports https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/business/medical-debt-credit-reports-ruling.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/business/medical-debt-cre...
- cm2012 1y ago
  I have been doing this since before the initial law was passed as it happens
  - pessimizer 1y ago
    iirc before the law was passed, there were policies at the agencies themselves to wait at least 3 years before letting medical debt onto credit reports.
- Izikiel43 1y ago
  Unless you live in WA: > Senate Bill 5480, sponsored by Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane), will protect Washington consumers by prohibiting collection agencies from reporting medical debt to credit agencies. https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/riccelli/2025/04/22/governor-signs-riccelli-bill-to-remove-medical-debt-from-credit-score-reporting/ https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/riccelli/2025/04/22/governor-...

by cm2012 1y ago

toomuchtodo 1y ago

I want to stress that this is not universal, and in some states, medical providers are pursuing this debt aggressively. This is not to say you should not be aggressive in countering their claims (I do this for folks in a volunteer capacity), but you should be knowledgeable as to your potential credit and financial risk exposure before proceeding. NPR Investigation: Many U.S. hospitals sue patients for debts or threaten their credit - https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/21/1144491711/investigation-many-u-s-hospitals-sue-patients-for-debts-or-threaten-their-credit https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/21/1144491... - December 21st, 2022 Some Hospitals Kept Suing Patients Over Medical Debt Through the Pandemic - https://www.propublica.org/article/some-hospitals-kept-suing-patients-over-medical-debt-through-the-pandemic https://www.propublica.org/article/some-hospitals-kept-suing... - June 14th, 2021

jack_tripper 1y ago

>I've just ignored any medical bill As a not-American, I wonder what are the rules of this "game". Can anyone in the US just ignore their bills and debt and it's all ignored anyway? Because in most European countries, debt is a very serious thing. Even small debt like an unpaid 50 Euro bill can be sold to debt collectors who can seize your property or garnish your wage, pension or bank accounts to pay your debt plus the collection fee, so people here are incredibly weary of unpaid bills or taking debt for unnecessary things other than houses or cars.

giancarlostoro 1y ago
Homeless people do. Personally I rather pay something, but I'm not spending tens of thousands if that's not what everyone else is paying uniform. This is why there's no transparency on hospital prices, because nobody is ever billed the same, ever. Someone's bill is offsetting the losses from someone else.
jacquesm 1y ago
It would be quite hard to run up a million euros in debt to a hospital in Europe, but in the USA that is not at all unheard of.
- jack_tripper 1y ago
  You're missing the point completely. I was not talking about why hospital debt is big, but the difference in how debt in general of all sizes gets collected. Because in most of Europe even a 50 Euro debt will be collected, medical or not. while in the US it seems you can live just fine with a lot of debt that somehow nobody bothers to collect. And your hospital in Europe DOES collect the half million Euro bill, for say a heart transplant, from your insurance company. You just never see the massive bill because it goes directly to your insurer but someone always pays.
  - jacquesm 1y ago
    I've paid out of pocket for a medical procedure in Europe and the price was a very small fraction of what it would have been in the US. The 50 buck debt in europe will be collected because it is an actual debt, not something some hospital made up. See TFA.
    - jack_tripper 1y ago
      >I've paid out of pocket for a medical procedure in Europe For a second time in a row now you're deviating again from the topic of my point of debt collection just to go on an off-topic rant again on how expensive the US is compared to what you did in Europe. Why do you keep doing this? Are you trolling or is it some attention deficit disorder I should account for? Forget about medical bills. Let's say you have 50 Euro debt from an unpaid internet/electricity bill if that makes it easier for you to get out of the medical conversation into the debt collation US vs EU topic. In the US you can doge unpaid bills and rack up debt with little to no consequences, while in the EU not since the government goes after you, which makes the debt situation for US citizens incomparable to Europeans. Are you following so far or are you still fixated on how cheap medical bills are for you in Europe? >The 50 buck debt in europe will be collected because it is an actual debt, not something some hospital made up. How do you decide what is actual debt and what is made up? With that logic then all debt is made up because all money in circulation is made up and all prices are made up. I'm gonna walk out of the restaurant without paying the bill because we all know the 200 Euros for a steak is a made up price.
cm2012 1y ago
Basically the only thing debt collectors can do in the US (if the amount is too small to justify a lawsuit) is harass you with phone calls. I have DND except for contacts on anyway so I dont notice it. Edit: also credit score of course. Almost anything does affect your score. Except for medical stuff for me for some reason - I have a good credit score.
- jack_tripper 1y ago
  Damn, well in that case that explains why a lot of people in the US can be in debt yet so care free, which is unthinkable to us here in Europe as even small debts carry consequences.
  - alistairSH 1y ago
    That was an overly simplistic response. We do have credit scores in the US, and defaulting on medical bills can (but doesn't always) impact someone's score. Without a high score, you don't get the best interest rates on loans. Or, might not be eligible for a security clearance (government work) or jobs in some industries (banking and other "high trust" fields). Or might not be able to rent an apartment. But, the other response wasn't incorrect. We don't have debtors prisons (unless the debt is owed to the government, then they might be able to jail you).
    - timeon 1y ago
      Credit score is another thing I have hard time comprehend. I wanted to borrow car outside of EU and was not unable to because there was no record on me with some private company that stored data about credit cards. That was wild experience - like some social credit in China. I just prefer rule of law than these hacks on society.
      - alistairSH 1y ago
        How do they track credit-worthiness inside the EU? I thought Germany had something equivalent? Maybe it's government-managed instead of private? Not that I like the US system, but it sort of makes sense (barely).

giancarlostoro 1y ago

Sometimes you can haggle them. Just be careful, because you might find yourself in a situation where no healthcare provider wants to let you in because you owe them a "fortune" you must always haggle the billing.

harambae 1y ago

I did this once and, while there were no legal repercussions, the medical collection agency started calling my aging mother in the middle of the night (she still has a landline phone that will go off). Of course, I hadn't actually lived there since I was a teenager over a decade ago, and I'm sure they knew that, but the harassment tactic worked and I just paid it.

pessimizer 1y ago

Hot off the presses: Judge Scraps Rule Eliminating Medical Debt on Credit Reports https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/business/medical-debt-credit-reports-ruling.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/business/medical-debt-cre...

cm2012 1y ago
I have been doing this since before the initial law was passed as it happens
- pessimizer 1y ago
  iirc before the law was passed, there were policies at the agencies themselves to wait at least 3 years before letting medical debt onto credit reports.
Izikiel43 1y ago
Unless you live in WA: > Senate Bill 5480, sponsored by Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane), will protect Washington consumers by prohibiting collection agencies from reporting medical debt to credit agencies. https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/riccelli/2025/04/22/governor-signs-riccelli-bill-to-remove-medical-debt-from-credit-score-reporting/ https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/riccelli/2025/04/22/governor-...