John Oliver buys and forgives $15m worth of medical debt
24 replies, posted
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[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Kzmo39s.jpg[/IMG]
Watch out, Oprah Winfrey. John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, outdid TV’s biggest gift giver on Sunday when he forgave nearly $15m worth of medical debt on his show.
Oliver’s “giveaway” came at the end of a 20-minute segment on debt collectors. The segment focused on the bad actors in the industry, who buy debt from banks for cents on the dollar. These predatory collectors attempt to recoup the debt they purchased using threats and other aggressive tactics without first verifying the exact details of the debt.
Last Week Tonight spent about $50 to create a debt-acquisition company in Mississippi. The corporation’s name is Central Asset Recovery Professionals Inc – also known as Carp. According to Oliver, soon after its creation, Carp was offered a portfolio of medical debt worth $14,922,261.76 at a cost of “less than half a cent on a dollar, which is less than $60,000”.
Instead of collecting the debt, however, Last Week Tonight partnered with RIP Medical Debt charity and decided to forgive that debt.
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[URL="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/06/john-oliver-medical-debt-forgiveness-last-week-tonight"]via theguardian[/URL]
[video=youtube;hxUAntt1z2c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUAntt1z2c[/video]
The entire 21-minute segment in question on the official LWT channel.
Unpopular opinion but dismissing it as the biggest giveaway in tv history is a huge stretch.
[QUOTE=ROFLBURGER;50470057]Unpopular opinion but dismissing it as the biggest giveaway in tv history is a huge stretch.[/QUOTE]
It may not be but it doesn't disqualify it as a damned good thing to do.
Shit this man probably just put thousands of people's minds at ease over payments for medical care.
Edit:
Actually, 9,000 people.
It is [I]technically[/I] them choosing to forgive almost $15mil in debt. More importantly, by it being counted as a record, even only on a technically-correct basis, it draws attention to the whole atrocity that is medical debt and nearly-predatory medical billing in the US.
I don't think this is something John Oliver's going to have put on his tombstone, and it's not as if they actually paid out $15mil in real bills, but Oprah saddled a room full of people with new cars and the taxes that come with them (it counts as income and the IRS knows who was in that studio audience), while LWT just freed ~9000 people from being harassed by debt collectors over medical bills - at a cost of roughly $6.66 per person since the debt was sold for pennies on the dollar. In terms of pure numbers he's done far more good than Oprah feeding a consumer frenzy.
So they'd rather sell the debt to someone else for basically pennies than just reduce it? The original creditors don't get anything if the new creditor actually manages to recoup the debt, right? Seems kinda needlessly evil.
I think what they should do now is make their debt-acquisition company a religious origination like they have done before and a super pac.
[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;50470154]So they'd rather sell the debt to someone else for basically pennies than just reduce it? The original creditors don't get anything if the new creditor actually manages to recoup the debt, right? Seems kinda needlessly evil.[/QUOTE]
Reducing the amount owed still requires you to attempt to collect it (which may still be unsuccessful), costing you time, money, and effort. Selling off old, unpaid debt is much easier and faster and allows them to focus on newer cases.
I'm confused, did they spend $60k to make $15m of debt disappear?
[QUOTE=abcpea;50470189]I'm confused, did they spend $60k to make $15m of debt disappear?[/QUOTE]
Debt collection agencies can buy old, unpaid debt that the original creditor has given up on for very cheap amounts given that it's unlikely to be collected.
John Oliver bought what could potentially be $15,000,000 of debt (if everyone paid up, which is highly unlikely) for only $60,000 and since he doesn't actually run a debt collection agency, has forgiven those who are in debt to him.
[QUOTE=elfbarf;50470185]Reducing the amount owed still requires you to attempt to collect it (which may still be unsuccessful), costing you time, money, and effort. Selling off old, unpaid debt is much easier and faster and allows them to focus on newer cases.[/QUOTE]
Not just letting it go seems pretty petty in this case, but they're running a business I guess.
Seems funny how probable is that, given the price of american healthcare, some of those in debt could spend those 60k plus the fees of setting up a company to buy that package, forgive all debts including his own, and still save money in comparison with paying the original amount. What a crazy world we live in.
[QUOTE=Tidusete;50470662]Seems funny how probable is that, given the price of american healthcare, some of those in debt could spend those 60k plus the fees of setting up a company to buy that package, forgive all debts including his own, and still save money in comparison with paying the original amount. What a crazy world we live in.[/QUOTE]
You can't intentionally buy your own debt. You purchase bulk packages of debt with no clue of whose debt it contains until after purchase.
So when they complain about how social security fraud is a consumers fault, do politics know how easy it is to get ahold of a SSN plus all the info needed to open up a bank account?
Seriously if he has their address, SSN, birthdays, and names then he could easily do it.
Also great my state is in the "unlicensed and completely legal" category. So today I could go out and start buying social security numbers
imagine if a billionaire did this for all of the states
I'm genuinely amazed at what LWT ends up doing every once in a while, they made a church before, and now they're being the Robin Hood of medical debt collectors.
[QUOTE=Tidusete;50470662]Seems funny how probable is that, given the price of american healthcare, some of those in debt could spend those 60k plus the fees of setting up a company to buy that package, forgive all debts including his own, and still save money in comparison with paying the original amount. What a crazy world we live in.[/QUOTE]
Even if you could buy itemized debts, the reason these debts are so cheap to buy is because they're too hard to collect on. If you happen to own a debt collection company, you're probably not going to get out of paying your debts in the first place
Anyone wondering why these debts forgiven is an amazing thing just watch his segment. The shit these collectors do is fucking cruel.
[QUOTE=DELL;50472845]Anyone wondering why these debts forgiven is an amazing thing just watch his segment. The shit these collectors do is fucking cruel.[/QUOTE]
The debts were already out of statute so its not like they were still causing harm to 9000 people
[QUOTE=Code3Response;50473076]The debts were already out of statute so its not like they were still causing harm to 9000 people[/QUOTE]
Well if you watched it and found out what they do in that case. Which is go after them anyways to the point of even suing them.
[QUOTE=DELL;50473095]Well if you watched it and found out what they do in that case. Which is go after them anyways to the point of even suing them.[/QUOTE]
Yea because thats their job. They dont get paid unless some idiots pay their out of statute debt.
[QUOTE=Code3Response;50473107]Yea because thats their job. They dont get paid unless some idiots pay their out of statute debt.[/QUOTE]
I get that there job is to do that, the fact they go after people that are past statute and get away with it is fucked. As they can somehow legally harass people to an extreme degree. Nothing wrong with debt collectors, it's the methods and the fact they aren't getting punishment for the fucked up things they do.
I can understand the methods being used in illegal activities. These things however are suppose to follow the legal law. Which they use and abuse it, which is a complete failure of the legal system yet no one wants to stand up to it.
[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;50470154]So they'd rather sell the debt to someone else for basically pennies than just reduce it? The original creditors don't get anything if the new creditor actually manages to recoup the debt, right? Seems kinda needlessly evil.[/QUOTE]
I've worked for a legal firm that was actually handling cases for companies that bought debt like this. It's actually not that hugely lucrative a business and your returns after costs are usually around 5% or less.
The reason why those medical companies rather just pawn the debt off, is because it's cheaper for them in the long run.
[QUOTE=DELL;50473095]Well if you watched it and found out what they do in that case. Which is go after them anyways to the point of even suing them.[/QUOTE]
Oh I got sued for out of statute debt, hear court I claim out of statute...there done and at no costs to me but mounting costs to the agency. What they actually do is first tricking you into acknowledging the out of statute debt which restarts the run. Basically in terms of debt you've got 5 possible states it can be.
1) not yet fallible
2) was fallible but was fullfilled
3) is fallible but unfulfilled (I can sue you)
4) is fallible but has dropped out of statute (I can sue you, but you can inform the court it's out of statute, unless you acknowledge it first)
5) is fallible but has precluded (a time even longer than out of statute) - the debt essentially no longer exists and a court must consider it precluded even ex offo. Even in cases I were to pay you by accident, I can just demand the money back.
[QUOTE=DELL;50473169]I get that there job is to do that, the fact they go after people that are past statute and get away with it is fucked. As they can somehow legally harass people to an extreme degree. Nothing wrong with debt collectors, it's the methods and the fact they aren't getting punishment for the fucked up things they do.[/QUOTE]
It is actually not legal to harass people in ways portrayed in the video. If you were to sue them, you'd win. Especially in cases of threats like killing your pet or such.
Oh, cool. Hopefully this'll highlight just how broken the system is in this regard.
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