John Oliver “give-away” forgives $15m in medical debt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGym0RJ1W7Y

Warning: language

HBO’s John Oliver has claimed “television history” when he forgave nearly $15m worth of medical debt.

The Last Week Tonight host gave an editorial on shady debt collectors, and those who buy debt from banks for cents on the dollar and attempt to recoup the debt they purchased using threats and other aggressive tactics.

“Debt-buying is a grimy business and badly needs more oversight, because as it stands any idiot can get into it. And I can prove that to you because I am an idiot and we started a debt-buying company,” said Oliver. “And it was disturbingly easy.”

Last Week Tonight spent about $50 to create a debt-acquisition company in Mississippi. The corporation’s name is Central Asset Recovery Professionals Inc – also known as Carp. According to Oliver, soon after its creation, CARP was offered a portfolio of medical debt worth $14,922,261.76 at a cost of “less than half a cent on a dollar, which is less than $60,000”.

CARP received a list of names, addresses and social security numbers of nearly 9,000 people who owed around $15m.

Instead of collecting the debt, however, Last Week Tonight partnered with RIP Medical Debt charity and decided to forgive that debt.

Why not forgive it?” he asked. “Because on one hand, it’s obviously the right thing to do. But much more importantly, we’d be staging the largest one-time giveaway in television show history.”

“Thanks to this 5 June airing of the HBO comedy series, Last Week Tonight show with John Oliver, there are a lot more of us now privy to this collection industry practice and the debt treadmill it creates,” said Craig Antico, co-founder of RIP Medical Debt. “In a painfully hilarious (debt as funny? Somehow, yes) piece, John Oliver triumphantly out-Oprah’s Oprah in giving away valuable gifts.”

In 2004, Oprah Winfrey gave all 276 members of her studio audience a Pontiac G6 sedan at a cost nearly $8m.

Source: Guardian