Refusing to pay medical bills from the hospital

[dolphins4life]

I saw a woman in a TikTok video saying she simply would refuse to pay her hospital bill.

It left me with a lot of thoughts.

1) Is this why Obama mandated that people have health insurance? 

2) So what happens?  Will the hospital staff now not get paid?

You are REQUIRED to have car insurance if you own a car.

This is why I think insurance should be required.

Otherwise people just refuse to pay their bills and everybody suffers because of it.

Have any of you ever refused to pay a medical bill?

I have never gotten hit with a surprise bill.  This might be because I have really good insurance.

[Dave Gray]

People don't pay medical bills all the time.  This is literally the space I work in.  They can't put your appendix back in.

It is illegal for the hospital to turn you away for emergency services.  There is not a lot of incentives to pay big medical bills.

So, what happens?  It just drives up costs, in general, because a certain amount of every bill is buffer to make up for everyone else.  That's partially why medical in America is crazy expensive.

Pro tip -- never pay what they ask.  If you just get the bill and simply ask for them to reduce it, they will gladly knock off at least 10% just for you offering to pay.  It's a built in cost.

But yeah, that's what Obamacare was -- it tried to mandate that people had insurance (by offering a tax penalty if you don't) and the flip-side is that insurance companies weren't allowed to deny you for having pre-existing conditions.  Republicans fought the mandate...here we are.

The American medical system is a joke.  Great quality, but we all pay way more than we need to and don't end up getting the care we need.

[CF DolFan]

People don't pay medical bills all the time.  This is literally the space I work in.  They can't put your appendix back in.

It is illegal for the hospital to turn you away for emergency services.  There is not a lot of incentives to pay big medical bills.

So, what happens?  It just drives up costs, in general, because a certain amount of every bill is buffer to make up for everyone else.  That's partially why medical in America is crazy expensive.

Pro tip -- never pay what they ask.  If you just get the bill and simply ask for them to reduce it, they will gladly knock off at least 10% just for you offering to pay.  It's a built in cost.

But yeah, that's what Obamacare was -- it tried to mandate that people had insurance (by offering a tax penalty if you don't) and the flip-side is that insurance companies weren't allowed to deny you for having pre-existing conditions.  Republicans fought the mandate...here we are.

The American medical system is a joke.  Great quality, but we all pay way more than we need to and don't end up getting the care we need.

So many  insurance companies are a joke as well. My wife was denied a CT scan and asked to pay out of pocket. The out of pocket price was less than her United Healthcare price if she had been approved. The same thing happens with prescriptions. I'm all for free enterprise but it's kind of nuts. It would be nice to see all prices up front.

[SlothVomit]

I've never paid a single medical bill. It's gone after a few years once statute of limitations is reached. I have everything i need so credit score means nothing to me. Receiving care for medical issues is a right not a privilege. I'm having a baby with my wife in a few months. I've read the average cost. LMFAO. Piss off.

[Phishfan]

So many  insurance companies are a joke as well. My wife was denied a CT scan and asked to pay out of pocket. The out of pocket price was less than her United Healthcare price if she had been approved. The same thing happens with prescriptions. I'm all for free enterprise but it's kind of nuts. It would be nice to see all prices up front.

How is that even possible?

[Sibster]

The same thing happens with prescriptions. I'm all for free enterprise but it's kind of nuts. It would be nice to see all prices up front.

This right here.   I pay less for my medications with GoodRX than I do with my health insurance.

[Fau Teixeira]

You guys should look up Marc Cuban interviews where he discusses the pharmacy middle man companies. Where they have pharmacies enter into contracts where even if they could sell you the medication for less without insurance, they aren't allowed to offer you the retail price the moment you have insurance.

[Sibster]

You guys should look up Marc Cuban interviews where he discusses the pharmacy middle man companies. Where they have pharmacies enter into contracts where even if they could sell you the medication for less without insurance, they aren't allowed to offer you the retail price the moment you have insurance.

They don't need to know you have insurance.   This one medication I take is only $10 for a 90 day supply at Walmart with GoodRx.   With my health insurance, it's $45.   So Walmart doesn't know I have health insurance.   Plain and simple.