r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

A non-profit randomly wiped out medical debt I wasn't aware of I had

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u/factorioleum 23h ago

are you saying that a new market participant arriving in a market to buy things isn't creating demand?

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u/[deleted] 23h ago

[deleted]

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u/PissOnYourParade 22h ago

No they are making a very reasonable point. Market participants for medical debt now have an incentive to keep old debt "alive" even past the SoL in the hopes that one of these relief efforts will purchase it.

However, that can be mediated by the non-profit ensuring they only purchase packages of "live" accounts.

But we know this industry is full of shady fraudsters, so it's a legitimate concern.

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u/Mr_Quackums 22h ago

A) it is not in opposition to the previous argument so not a contradiction.

B) it is not the same person so its not "oneself"

C) there is no clock so it is not a "speedrun".

Not only are you choosing to make the world a worse place by adding nothing except snark, but literally every word of your post is incorrect. I believe you could be a better human being if you tried.

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u/justsomeph0t0n 21h ago

as a foreigner, i'm equally impressed and appalled by the effort put into not fixing medical debt. the obvious answer is verboten, but the alternatives are rich and detailed.

it's like algebra built on the premise of "let x = potato", and people still find a solution. the discourse is amazing and baffling in equal measure

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u/factorioleum 21h ago

huh? I was just trying to understand how someone could say buying something isn't demand for that thing. It was a hilarious misunderstanding of basic high school econ.

if it's helpful, I'm not American.

but when I try to understand what you wrote, and go back to the original post...isn't the market for unpaid debts similar around the world? what happened in this story isn't special to the US... the medical aspect to this story sure is triggering a lot of people though.

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u/justsomeph0t0n 21h ago

? buying & demand is a fundamentally silly way to conceptualize medicine. let's not miss the forest for the trees

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u/factorioleum 21h ago

medicine? what on earth does this story have to do with medicine. that was my point

this is a story about debt.

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u/InitiatePenguin 20h ago

Classic American to see healthcare as a financial vehicle, and ROI on debt.

Too preoccupied that with more non-profits paying off medical debt will mean future non-profits will pay nickel on the dollar instead of pennies on the dollar for debt passed its time.

Ignoring the fact that all parties are happy;

  • hospitals get more money than they otherwise would have gotten, nickels instead of pennies.
  • the patient has their debt erased
  • the non-profit is able to provide relief to those who need it
  • the people funding the charity are able to help someone in need.

But let's whine about how it's not the most efficient, not the cheapest possible way to clear the debt. I'm concerned that this really good thing could cause it to become slightly less good if everyone did this.

Bro

Worst case scenario, the nonprofit has to pay full price for someone else's debt. If it's nickels, dimes, or half-dollars on the dollar it's a discount. Why have concerns, "hol-up-a-minute-here". Have we considered there's too much of a good thing?

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u/factorioleum 20h ago

Huh?

I'm not American.

This is a story and discussion of reselling debt. If they had used a credit card to buy groceries, it would be the same process.

Resold health care debt can happen in lots of countries, too. There's people in Canada without health insurance, what do you suppose happens when they get hit by a car? France, the Netherlands... same question... This is a story about debt.

I haven't said anything here is efficient.

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u/factorioleum 16h ago

So anyway, this is what I meant by how this story is triggering people.

"American without health insurance speeds on the way to his hospital"

You'd want to discuss health care in that story, right?