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(Fortune)   Proving that government can actually work for you, the ordinary citizen, it's....ah that can't be right. Toledo? Stop messing with me   (fortune.com) divider line
38
    More: Spiffy, Debt, Debt relief, medical debt of its residents, Odious debt, council of Toledo, medical debt, debt forgiveness effort, RIP Medical Debt  
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2898 clicks; posted to Politics » on 13 Nov 2022 at 12:50 AM (19 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



38 Comments     (+0 »)
View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest
 
Original [TotalFark]
2022-11-12 4:54:16 PM  
Original Tweet:
 
revrendjim [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-12 8:17:28 PM  
That's a really awesome thing they did (although medical debt is not a thing that should exist in the first place).
/Way to go, Ohio
 
weddingsinger [TotalFark]
2022-11-12 8:23:04 PM  
Tolleson has a great night life
Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Gubbo [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-12 8:23:57 PM  

weddingsinger: Tolleson has a great night life
[Fark user image image 372x582]


The guys at his workplace would probably have comped his medical needs
 
weddingsinger [TotalFark]
2022-11-12 8:23:57 PM  

weddingsinger: Tolleson has a great night life
[Fark user image image 372x582]


Toledo, damn it
 
Summoner101
2022-11-13 12:57:29 AM  
It's pretty dreadful that a city the size of Toledo has citizens with that much outstanding medical debt.  That it was also purchased for pennies on the dollar doesn't give good feelings either.
 
rzrwiresunrise
2022-11-13 1:00:56 AM  
This is just the stupidest system ever devised. Instead of a public single payer system funded by taxes, we have private insurers & providers paying claims, a proportion of which they have to sell at a loss which they then write off their taxes, bought by appropriations funded by taxes.

All just so the middlemen executives can earn 8-figure salaries that are taxed at the lowest possible rate.
 
CrazyCurt
2022-11-13 1:09:16 AM  
Dad played for the Mudhens when I was very young. Weird time.

/ I do remember it -- then we went to Mexico and wow do I remember that.
 
mistahtom
2022-11-13 1:12:34 AM  
$800,000 to purchase the medical debt of Toledoans, creating roughly $160-240 million in debt relief.

Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Strangeart [TotalFark]
2022-11-13 1:18:08 AM  
I would like to be able to buy my medical debt for pennies on the dollar too.
 
pjbreeze
2022-11-13 1:19:26 AM  
That is a feel good story that really doesn't feel so good.  I'm going outside to see if I'll get a football to the groin
 
FatherChaos [TotalFark]
2022-11-13 1:22:19 AM  
Must be for white people addicted to opiods.
 
whatshisname [TotalFark]
2022-11-13 1:36:27 AM  
None of the numbers in that article work unless you assume that medical fees are 100x the cost.
 
Gordon Bennett [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-13 1:38:43 AM  

rzrwiresunrise: This is just the stupidest system ever devised. Instead of a public single payer system funded by taxes, we have private insurers & providers paying claims, a proportion of which they have to sell at a loss which they then write off their taxes, bought by appropriations funded by taxes.

All just so the middlemen executives can earn 8-figure salaries that are taxed at the lowest possible rate.


Those private insurance profits buy a lot of politicians.
 
EdgeRunner [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-13 1:44:14 AM  
Toledo's in Canada, right? Don't they already have free health care?

/just kidding, I know Toledo's not a real place.
 
ongbok
2022-11-13 1:46:35 AM  

rzrwiresunrise: This is just the stupidest system ever devised. Instead of a public single payer system funded by taxes, we have private insurers & providers paying claims, a proportion of which they have to sell at a loss which they then write off their taxes, bought by appropriations funded by taxes.

All just so the middlemen executives can earn 8-figure salaries that are taxed at the lowest possible rate.


This was uninsured people who couldn't pay their hospital bills, and those bills were eventually sold to third party dept collection companies for pennies on the dollar, who were more than happy to settle for what they bought the debt for.

The problem is that the original debt wasn't really worth what was claimed since the holder of the debt was willing to sell it off for so little.
 
Nuc_E
2022-11-13 1:52:59 AM  

revrendjim: That's a really awesome thing they did (although medical debt is not a thing that should exist in the first place).
/Way to go, Ohio


Don't give the entire state credit.   It's bootstrappy Republican christofascist land outside of a handful of metro areas.
 
Petroleum Oligarch
2022-11-13 2:02:13 AM  

EdgeRunner: Toledo's in Canada, right? Don't they already have free health care?

/just kidding, I know Toledo's not a real place.


It's in Spain
 
LordOfThePings [OhFark]
2022-11-13 2:09:26 AM  

Strangeart: I would like to be able to buy my medical debt for pennies on the dollar too.


Would you like debt with that?

external-content.duckduckgo.comView Full Size
 
Senseless_drivel
2022-11-13 2:13:07 AM  
Don't they have prisons to build?
 
Senseless_drivel
2022-11-13 2:18:43 AM  

Petroleum Oligarch: EdgeRunner: Toledo's in Canada, right? Don't they already have free health care?

/just kidding, I know Toledo's not a real place.

It's in Spain


Well, I've never been to Spain but I kinda like the music.
 
TomDooley
2022-11-13 2:36:30 AM  
Magnificent.   Expand it nationwide.
 
Dear Jerk
2022-11-13 2:38:12 AM  
They're paying about a penny per dollar of debt. That means they're buying lists of people whose debt has already been discharged in bankruptcy court. Those people are under no obligation to pay the debt. What Toledo is doing is keeping these names out of the hands of shady debt collectors, so the people who had medical debt will stop being harassed. Good on them. It will probably pay for itself in increased tax revenue due to less stress-related disability.
 
EdgeRunner [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-13 2:38:55 AM  

Petroleum Oligarch: EdgeRunner: Toledo's in Canada, right? Don't they already have free health care?

/just kidding, I know Toledo's not a real place.

It's in Spain


In the membrane?
 
replacementcool
2022-11-13 2:47:42 AM  
the fact that that "debt" can be bought for pennies on the dollar proves the cost isn't anywhere near that high but republicans want to keep americans indebted.
 
kkinnison [OhFark]
2022-11-13 2:52:16 AM  
Why doesn't everyone do this?
 
BlazeTrailer
2022-11-13 2:59:56 AM  

Dear Jerk: They're paying about a penny per dollar of debt. That means they're buying lists of people whose debt has already been discharged in bankruptcy court. Those people are under no obligation to pay the debt. What Toledo is doing is keeping these names out of the hands of shady debt collectors, so the people who had medical debt will stop being harassed. Good on them. It will probably pay for itself in increased tax revenue due to less stress-related disability.


No, this firm either purchased the debt from the collection agencies or acted as such an agency itself and purchased the debt directly from the providers.
 
IlGreven
2022-11-13 3:07:37 AM  

mistahtom: $800,000 to purchase the medical debt of Toledoans, creating roughly $160-240 million in debt relief.

[Fark user image 425x409] [View Full Size image _x_]


Remember credit default swaps, the things that caused the 2008 recession?

This is the medical equivalent.

/The entire process of selling debt for pennies on the dollar needs to be abolished.  It destabilizes the economy.
 
austerity101
2022-11-13 3:42:21 AM  

rzrwiresunrise: This is just the stupidest system ever devised. Instead of a public single payer system funded by taxes, we have private insurers & providers paying claims, a proportion of which they have to sell at a loss which they then write off their taxes, bought by appropriations funded by taxes.

All just so the middlemen executives can earn 8-figure salaries that are taxed at the lowest possible rate.


And neither party has any serious plans to fix this. Neither one.
 
TheGogmagog
2022-11-13 5:09:55 AM  

Strangeart: I would like to be able to buy my medical debt for pennies on the dollar too.


You can.  If you get an outrageous bill from a hospital call and ask to have it reduced.  They will first offer payment plans but if you still don't have budget for it you may be surprised how ready they will be to reduce or forgive it.

Individual doctor offices or specialists are not as likely to reduce payment especially if you want them to continue with your care.
 
Aar1012 [TotalFark]
2022-11-13 6:39:36 AM  

weddingsinger: weddingsinger: Tolleson has a great night life
[Fark user image image 372x582]

Toledo, damn it


There are some who disagree
 
Barricaded Gunman
2022-11-13 8:10:33 AM  

whatshisname: None of the numbers in that article work unless you assume that medical fees are 100x the cost.


Funny, that.
 
Fereals
2022-11-13 9:03:14 AM  

replacementcool: the fact that that "debt" can be bought for pennies on the dollar proves the cost isn't anywhere near that high but republicans want to keep americans indebted.


That is the entire breadth and width of conservative ideology.

If they can just make it bad enough people will become subservient to their visions of social engineering.
 
browneye [TotalFark]
2022-11-13 9:58:52 AM  
Cool! Well done, Toledo!
 
EyeballKid
2022-11-13 10:09:18 AM  
But does anybody in Ohio dream of that Spanish citadel?

Toledo - Elvis Costello, Burch Bacharach & Bill Frisell
Youtube xTlJYkjOQd8
 
jso2897
2022-11-13 10:22:54 AM  

EdgeRunner: Toledo's in Canada, right? Don't they already have free health care?

/just kidding, I know Toledo's not a real place.


Yes it is - It's in Spain. They got bullfighters there.
 
SoundOfOneHandWanking [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-13 10:32:50 PM  

Strangeart: I would like to be able to buy my medical debt for pennies on the dollar too.


I think it should be the law that you have first dibs at whatever price they are willing to sell it to debt collectors at.
 
life of the sausage party
2022-11-14 6:59:52 AM  

EdgeRunner: Toledo's in Canada, right? Don't they already have free health care?

/just kidding, I know Toledo's not a real place.


Hey, Michigan and Ohio fought a war over Toledo. Ohio had to take it when the dust settled.
 
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