Small claims courts have been a fixture throughout America for over seventy years. In the state of New York, for example, there are Small Claims Courts in each of the 62 counties — including at least one in each of the five boroughs of New York City. Most other states have similar coverage. In small…
The most frequent settings for medical credit cards have been dentist’s offices, cosmetic surgery, veterinarians, hearing services, vision services and primary care. However, the cards are increasingly offered to cover surgeries and emergency services provided at hospitals and doctors’ offices. (Some of the newer lenders are owned by private equity, which to me is automatically…
Readers of this blog are aware that I am a strong advocate of health care reform. However, I am very cautious about a total overhaul of our system. I have a low tolerance for bad math and empty promises – which both appear all too often in the promotion of Single Payer. Here are some…
The Debt Collective first formed in 2012 as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Early members wrote the Debt Resisters’ Operations Manual , and launched the Rolling Jubilee, a mechanism for purchasing portfolios of people’s debt on secondary debt markets — and cancelling it. In 2015, the Collective organized the nation’s first student debt strike, against…
For the last ten years, Jared has headed up a medical charity called Dollar For. At first, he simply raised money to help pay medical bills for low income families. However – he then realized that many of these families could have qualified for free hospital care. Under the Affordable Care Act. non-profit hospitals must…
Alan Collinge has been waging a media war against student debt for about 20 years. He uses news articles, facebook posts, and interviews to further his cause. His organization is called Student Loan Justice.org, and his goal is to get politicians and the media on the side of debt relief. Here is a sample of…
A hospital patient’s first bill is usually for an impossible, back-breaking amount….but typically all the insurers have already negotiated a substantial discount. However — most patients do not understand this. They have no one to reassure them, counsel them, and to fight for them if they have no insurer. Americans are used to fixed prices…
It is not just the patients who can suffer. Medical providers are losing money on deductibles as well. Consider these statistics from Jacqueline LaPointe’s article in RevCycle Intelligence: It’s no wonder that hospitals can sell their old debts so cheaply to collection agencies. Most hospitals are not very aggressive on debt collection. (Thank goodness!) A…
If you call 911 and the fire department comes, you will generally pay nothing. In virtually all incorporated cities, the fire department is a public service. It is financed by local government—usually with property taxes. However– if you call 911 for an ambulance, you could be charged over $1,000, even for a short ride. …
Pending Bankruptcy Reforms Favor Debtors For many years, typical consumers could choose between filing under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the US bankruptcy code. In Chapter 7—the far faster option—an independent trustee liquidates the debtor’s available assets and makes distributions to creditors. In Chapter 13, debtors contribute their income to a trustee who makes…