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> don’t think that credit reports solve or help anything in this domain

They help hospitals collect. Not saying that makes it right. Just that it has a purpose beyond greed and gouging.

I’d have to see data in order to confirm this is true. Once a delinquency gets placed on a credit report paying the bill doesn’t help the person that owes. It also assumes that the people not paying are choosing to do so rather than not being able to. Given the debts are sold at a steep discount, I’d say it’s more efficient to have lower prices up front which could potentially be affordable for more of the customers.

When one is applying for a mortgage one of the conditions is to pay off any debt in collection status. I agree that lack of universal healthcare with reasonable out of pocket costs is the underlying issue.

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