Ok but can't the hospital (or the collections agency) take you to court? Let's say you have 100k bill from the hospital that you just ignore. They sell it to a collections agency for 60k. You refuse to pay the collections agency. Now what happens?
Yes, the hospital or collections agency can sue you to try to garnish your wages. If they win, you're boned.
If they lose, or they never sue for garnishment, it's unclear what happens if you refuse to pay. From what I can tell, the debt disappears from your credit report after seven years, but the debt is still valid and they can still try to recover the money from you, but they won't be able to use the courts to do it.
However, there's always the option of declaring bankruptcy. Even if they garnish wages, declaring bankruptcy will wipe it away. Obviously, that's the nuclear option and will destroy your credit rating for seven years.
