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Commentary: 'Nobody knows what these bills are for'

By The Atlantic  
   October 03, 2024

A Pennsylvania woman started calling hospitals, doctor's offices, and collection agencies and realized that nobody could tell her what she was paying for and why she was being charged a certain amount. Some bills had been forgiven; some were miscoded. "I was like, I'm not going to just send you $500 for this random you-know-what," says the woman identified as "Catherine."  "My takeaway was: Nobody knows what these bills are for." So she did not pay them. She tossed new ones in the trash. She sent unknown numbers straight to voicemail. Getting on top of her debts meant ignoring them.

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