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When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

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41–50 of 233 posts

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#41
I'm reminded of some lines from "A Christmas Carol." "Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?" ... It's wild how many changes to embolden debt collections happens in so many places, often snuck in by a few legislators that just don't think they'll get called out and generally don't. I'm lucky to live in a state that to my knowledge has a lot of protections in place and makes it harder to charge interest or sue over medical debt.

I would like to see some billing revisions take place and make the majority of collections susceptible to review. Also, limit the rates that a facility can charge limited to no more than a 20% variance. Of course now that insurance companies don't act with a fiduciary responsibility, this also needs to change. Obamacare, as well intended as it is/was, has introduced some fierce unintended consequences.

As someone who was saddled with a $138k set of bills (after insurance, before Obamacare), it's rough. I make decent money and still had to spend the better part of a decade working 60-70 hour weeks with a day job and side work to pay it off. If they made medical debt a tax credit, it isn't even a deduction most of the time, I'd bet there'd be more interest in actually adjusting the course.

I would like to see the collective coverage for Medicare, Medicaid, VA Medical, and Federal Employee coverage combined into a non-profit medical insurance anyone can get a policy from with a single policy that can and does negotiate with fiduciary responsibility. Of course, then the congress would handcuff such an organization and make it unable to wield its' negotiating ability.

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#42
post #34

> Judges don’t need a law degree in Kansas, or many other states, to preside over cases like these You can't make this up!

I honestly dont find that an awful thing. There are places like small towns where people probably dont go to fancy schools to get fancy degrees. Are they going to be left without judges?

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#43
post #34

> Judges don’t need a law degree in Kansas, or many other states, to preside over cases like these You can't make this up!

I honestly dont find that an awful thing. There are places like small towns where people probably dont go to fancy schools to get fancy degrees. Are they going to be left without judges?

Get them from somewhere else where they actually know the law.

This is beyond outrageous!

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#44
post #34

> Judges don’t need a law degree in Kansas, or many other states, to preside over cases like these You can't make this up!

So many people think judges are some elevated ethical beings like we imagine as kids. They are mostly lawyers who are appointed or elected politically. The administrative law judge for my social assistance applications was hostile and overtly political and I knew I was screwed in the hearing. To make it worse the appeal was sent right back to HIM for review. Of course he rejected the appeal and upheld his decision. O…

> To make it worse the appeal was sent right back to HIM for review

I believe you. Nothing really surprises me anymore...

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#45
post #3

My life was ruined by badly done, and even worse ultimately unneeded surgery. That privilege initially cost me many thousands, along with career and insurance going away, and the subsequent struggle to survive since has cost multiples of that. My entire future billed away. For a time I was able to avoid collectors because of a significant savings a frugal life had left me, but as time goes on you have to choose betwe…

Im confused as to why you don't just walk away. After 7 years it will fall off your credit report and u can start over.

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#46
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An extreme option to consider before the edge gets you: Move to another country. One that has free healthcare even to foreigners. Yes, they exist. Brazil is one. I'm not sure but I've heard Spain might too. Granted you wont get the best and most responsive health care in the world but at least you'll get some and for free. Things are different out there. Worse in some aspects, better in others. Just something to thin…

I've been trying to move back abroad since I returned to the USA. It's not as easy as people think in the best of times to immigrate, let alone when you are in such bad shape all around. No place takes broken and relatively broke people. Believe me I'd have been gone years ago if I could have managed it. I've thought about extreme ideas like asylum but my research shows it's never granted to people from such countrie…

Have you looked into working remotely and then moving somewhere like Argentina? They are very open to immigration and you can apply for citizenship after two years.

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#47
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This article was clear that the judge required defendants to be properly served. I can't speak to everywhere, but I thought that was pretty standard practice.

You mean the judge that never even studied law?

Yes, that one, if you read the article like I did:

> He made sure no one was arrested unless they’d been reached by personal service or certified mail.

> As long as the defendant had been properly served, the judge’s answer was always yes.

I'm not trying to justify anything else, but the experience of being arrested without being properly served does not align with the article in question.

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#48
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly dont find that an awful thing. There are places like small towns where people probably dont go to fancy schools to get fancy degrees. Are they going to be left without judges?

Get them from somewhere else where they actually know the law. This is beyond outrageous!

Some people become lawyers without degrees too. They study law just like anybody else they just dont run themselves into school debt. These too can become judges.

Edit: I couldnt find the term but now I did. You become a lawyer by becoming an apprentice of another lawyer. I assume these people become judges. In some states the only requirement to become a judge is to have been a lawyer. My original point was to take the comment from the article with a grain of salt. It requires a citation.

Re: When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested

#50
post #34

> Judges don’t need a law degree in Kansas, or many other states, to preside over cases like these You can't make this up!

I do know that when Arizona became a state, there was a part of the original constitution that the US Congress made them change in order to become a state. Any elected official can be recalled by citizen petition for ballot initiative. The US govt didn't feel that Judges should be included. It was the first amendment to the state's constitution.

That may be part of why you don't get a lot of these kinds of stories in AZ. Of course there are many other issues at play. Such as most political candidates don't show their political party in ads. The term limits set a couple decades ago cause a large shuffling of where political candidates land after term limits (state house/senate/boards).

I've seen so much corruption from inside and out, and even creative ideas of dealing with it, only to see it shuffled differently every time. I'm not sure there really is any other solution than limiting govt as much as possible, and by extension limiting corporate protections as well. Many today lean towards Communism/Socialism as the answer, and from my understanding, I can only see that as escalating the problems in the long run.

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