UnderpantsWeevil comments on Why didn't the mother just use her private doctor on her yacht?

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 41 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Collection agencies will buy hospital debt at pennies on the dollar. And then collection agencies can try to annoy you into paying. But they have an even weaker claim on your debt than the original hospital. Getting a court to agree to garnish wages is a drawn out process. And it can be easily circumvented if you quit your job and take up employment somewhere else. In the service sector, that happens so routinely as to make wage garnishment a fool's errand.

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[–] Zoot@reddthat.com 8 points 9 months ago (1 child)

I've had my wages garnished from an ambulance trip. 18Y/o me was insanely confused when HR pulled me aside to let me know.

They ended up only getting a few hundred Bucks, how could that possibly have been worth it for them? In any case if they would do that to me it wouldnt surprise me to hear they do it to others as well.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

They ended up only getting a few hundred Bucks, how could that possibly have been worth it for them?

If the debt collector bought the debt for pennies on the dollar, there are edge cases. Even then, it's an expensive process to try and only works as long as you're rooted in a particular job. As soon as you leave, the collectors have to go back and refile all their claims against you against the new employer.

So it generally isn't worth the time, which is why the post is sus.

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