So, I cannot speak how easy/hard is to collect debt abroad but I do know that it is possible for prospective employers to query the credit history.
I have recently applied for a job in the finance industry in Denmark, the institution did poke into my American financial life. That also happened when I worked for banks the UK and Wall Street.
She wouldn’t take the bill as far it is concerned legally (as far as I know and dealt with medical bills myself).
She might get mails and phone calls but the collection agency will not go after her assets, well unless her dad has assets in the USA.
The story lacks some details but if she contact the hospital and negotiate based on that, they would likely reduce the bill. Is this moral or not that’s another question, but I agree that she had few options before asking people for money early on. Specially when making 200k.
> The ER bill was about $50k and she decided that the best way to pay it was by creating a GoFundMe campaign before she even tried to negotiate with the hospital or fight it with the insurance.
For me it sounds like she could have done more on her own to solve this problem before “socializing” the solution.
PS: Yes, healthcare is broken but at the end, she as a resident knows that and when someone comes to visit it is her responsibility to advise or buy a travelers insurance. It is not that expensive.
Honestly most people who haven't dealt with the healthcare system before wouldn't even consider that negotiating your freaking hospital bill is an option. No sane person would (especially if they grew up in another country).
No, travel insurance is not. They don't even ask health questions. The cost is based on the cost of your trip, and can be as little as $50-$100 for a decent plan on a $5k trip, and about $500 for a year.
They might not ask health questions, but if you're not careful and don't disclose anything material, they're probably going to find a way to get out of paying when it comes to it.
Travel insurance for older people with prior conditions can be expensive. My parents visited the US for a few weeks and their insurance cost something like $800 with a $500 deductible. Wasn't even that good either, with a stack of pages with terms and conditions. Fortunately they didn't have to use it.
In Germany, I pay about 12 USD per year for a travel insurance that covers an unlimited number of trips up to two months each, including repatriation if medically advised.
This article is about people who've had cancer at some point in their lives, even if they're currently cancer free and not having any treatment. That's what the FCA report focused on, but this problem affects 15 million people in the UK.
It is somewhat limiting the fact that in our industry, challenges related to social and human factors are either dismissed, denied, or taken under negative tone. Social sciences and political philosophy could really benefit how we treat ourselves daily, in my opinion. However, it seems that if it is not “technical” is dysfunctional.
PS: I am not saying that’s my take from your post, just something I observe in general. Heck, even I use the term political to signal dysfunctional work. :/
My time in college also taught me a lot on groups. It soon became clear that an A team is very volatile because of egos and motivators are hardly the same. Every time we had groups bigger than 2-3, there was drama and/or resentment. I wish I knew more about people and project management at that time but times were also different..
That happens a lot, specially in places selling healthy snacks.
I used to work for one of them at certain point and the secret sauce was mostly using tons sugar and/or salt to increase sales. Unless one puts a lot of effort (which can be quite expensive when running a business), healthy food doesn’t sell well.
And that’s reinforced by advertisement over and over again.
While there are so many fun activities not involving alcohol. Seems like most of team building events nowadays boils down to pretentious dinner plus drinking to celebrate?
Also, members of visa waiver program can also be denied entry. That’s just like any one country.