So those sources say it doesn’t stay on your credit report, but I’m not really concerned about that. My credit score is consistently dogshit, and I’ve given up on it. I don’t really care about my credit score at all.

What I’m concerned about are legal issues, wage garnishment, and other things that would directly affect me and harm me. If I just don’t pay, wouldn’t they seek legal action against me? I’m almost certain they would, and I’m pretty sure that doesn’t change after 7 years.

Edit: I think I misread your comment. I see now that it does say “credit report.” For some reason, I misread that and thought you were saying the debt just disappears. So really, that wouldn’t help me much at all. I still need to be terrified of going to the doctor. One expensive trip could ruin my life.

I wish I would have known this when I thought my life was over after having appendicitis the one year of my life I couldn’t afford insurance. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll keep it in mind.

I’ve got to say there’s no way my debt would ever be less than $1k though. I’m pretty sure my deductible is $5k, but I’ve also given up on the whole credit score thing. I always get emails that it’s dropped or whatever, and I’m just numb to it at this point it’s just background noise

Go pound sand

Pounding sand isn’t enough anymore. We need heads to roll.

What do you mean by this? They just erase your debt after 7 years? Are you sure?

Honestly I could be remembering wrong. This was 2020 and 2021, and I haven’t been back to the clinic since December 2021 when they charged me $200 out of pocket for just an office visit. My whole point posting that comment isn’t that I have celiac, but rather that I can’t afford this shit.

I’d rather die than have collections on my ass again

it’s better from the former system in the way that walking on glass is better than being on fire

Unless you were unemployed or extremely poor, in which case there’s no difference

They did some labs and gave me my diagnosis. The way it was explained to me was that they wanted the colonoscopy to check for things like scarring and so forth.

To be clear, I’m not a medical professional, so my attempting to answer “Why would they…” is pretty fruitless. I have no idea; that’s why I was seeing my doctor lol

Oh I’ve had the diagnosis for a few years, and I’ve totally adhered to the dietary restrictions I was given. If I so much as question whether cross contamination may have taken place, I don’t eat the food.

I’m pretty well stable now and no longer shitting myself. But I know I’m at greater risk of things like colon cancer, which is something that my family has a history of.

My insurance would “cover” it in that it would go towards my deductible, but that’s still thousands of dollars, and we had to buy a furnace this year because ours died. I’m thinking about going and having it done in Mexico. I have in-laws there.

Edit: They did more than just blood tests. I’m not going to post all my lab results here obviously, but I can tell you I took shit samples there more than once, and amid all these tests all I could think about was the cost.

I’m supposed to have a colonoscopy because of my celiac

This is why I don’t

I think the YMCA still might have good terms, but I haven’t checked. That’s where we used to go.

If you’re using your real name I would imagine they’d send the debt to collections which would cost you even more when your credit score tanks and you try to buy a car or house.

Probably important for people to know, but I doubt it would be terribly impactful, and I’m so done playing their games. There’s always something that hurts my credit score anyway, so I just assume I’ve already lost this battle before it began.

My husband is a roller skater! I always think people think we’re an odd couple, with my board and his skates on the trails

Yeah, that’s why I’m alright sticking to the exercise I can access for free: walking, cycling, longboarding, calisthenics…

I feel like I’m in better shape now than I was when I had an actual gym membership

You’ve also described why I tend to avoid a lot of subscription based services.

Why are all gym memberships like this? The first thing I check before starting a service is how easy it is to end it. I’ve not been able to find a single gym with reasonable terms.

This is something that needs to be regulated somehow.

In the meantime, one could always pay with a prepaid card and then just never add funds when you decide to quit. Then just “return to sender” any mail they try to send you.

That might work

People of color

He’s not talking in good faith. I’m married to a first-gen immigrant from Mexico. I can tell you how “they” move. Unless they’re rich out the gate, in which case there’s a completely different process, they save up money for years, ask for money from relatives, live in extreme discomfort, and then eventually are able to move.

Once established, it’s not like “they” can pick up at any time and relocate. Now they’re trapped in three or four jobs working the entire day, with still barely enough money for rent and food.

Eventually, some of “them” might be fortunate enough to be able to afford the massive investment of time and money for residency and maybe even citizenship.

Maybe even some of “them” will fall in love and get married and start a beautiful life together.

But maybe “they” and even their spouse have misfortune. Healthcare can totally collapse you. Maybe “they” and their spouse save up money for years, but it’s never enough. “They” have got PTSD from their prior life experiences, and their spouse develops health problems. Neither of them want these things to happen, but one ends up in and out of psych wards and psychiatrists’ offices, and the other ends up shitting himself for more than five years, finally after thousands and thousands of dollars discovers he has celiac, but has also fucked other things up in the meantime by developing addiction to alcohol and opiods, which are so easy to become addicted to in this society. So their big plans to move to the big city keep falling through. “They” might lie awake at night feeling tremendous guilt about this, on top of everything else, even though it’s not “their” fault.

That’s how “they” move, and that’s how many of “them” might not be able to just fucking relocate like some privileged neckbeard from lemmy.world suggests.

I know many other immigrants and refugees. I know many similar cases.

TL;DR “They” are the same as “us”

They don’t move, either. I’m married to a first-gen immigrant. Getting here is a massive undertaking, but then?

And what do you mean, all “those” immigrants?

I’m not taking it for granted. It was just an observation of fact.

Some of the right-wingers are just heavily propagandized ignoramuses

If we can educate them…