re: Medical Debt Should Not Ever Be Used to Harm Credit Worthiness

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Absolutely hilarious the morons on here have issue with PSLF student loans being forgiven, but if a fat frick that doesn't take care himself has a heart attack or stroke that could have been prevented by simple exercise, they shouldn't have to pay back the thousands in medical bills they racked up from gross negligence

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I don't disagree with your general point—and Americans do cause many of the serious health problems they end up dealing with by lifestyle choices, I'm not denying that.

But that's not the reason they should pay the money back.

They should pay it back simply because someone provided the care. They received a service and they need to exchange value by paying for the service they received, whether they needed that service due to their own negligence or not.

In other words, the reason a patient needed the intervention is irrelevant. If they got it, they need to pay for it.

I also agree with what others have said about negotiating down. Again, the system—because we're so committed to 3rd party pay for even routine care—is designed for an insurance company to pay a bill, not for an actual patient to pay a bill. It's perfectly fine IMO for a patient to negotiate a bill down that was conceptualized for another entity (who actually dictates what the going rate will be) to pay, as the entire financial system was never designed to set prices for individuals.

But whatever comes out of that negotiation, you should pay regardless of whether you ate yourself into a heart attack or whether you were walking down the street minding your own business and got shot in a drive-by.

It doesn't change what it costs the hospital to treat you whether you're there because you put yourself there or someone else did.

Stuff happens. This idea that we don't have to be responsible for things that happen to us just because they aren't our fault is asinine. Tell it to the plumber the next time you need him to replace your water heater that was supposed to last 15 years but only lasted 10.

He'll tell you "No pay, no bathe."

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We are literally the reason they are able to do what they do with any kind of comparable outcomes.

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