Debt Buyers: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

[@jonathanharsh7434]

There's something just inherently comedic about a grown British man yelling "I am the new queen of daytime talk!" while being showered in dollar bills after pushing an unnecessarily large button.

[@naconaco1]

???? ❓ what

[@mcswashbuckler3833]

The size of the button is of the utmost importance. Everyone knows that the larger your buttons, the better you are

[@JMsurYT]

This sentence just keeps getting better!

[@adamchristopher6917]

The largeness of that button was ABSOLUTELY necessary. :3

[@Ironcabbit]

He has the biggest buttons, the best. No one has a bigger button than him.

[@MegaChickenfish]

He runs a debt buying company *and* a religion now. Truly a man of many talents.

[@coletrickle1775]

If you think about it they go hand in hand. Don't have enough money for Jesus? Take out a high interest Jesus loan.

[@kadafi4lyf]

plot twist, he's actually collecting the debt and funneling it through the church in order to not pay taxes. he is quite the entrepreneur.

[@Redrocket14]

@@kadafi4lyf hiding in plain site

[@elizabethloveland4376]

Don't forget his pregnancy crisis center(ON WHEELS)

[@VS-ic2kv]

Wow - a garbage human for sure. Carpet bagging false Christian.

[@NekoMouser]

This British man is a true American hero.

[@adamgarcia7192]

Lol

[@thingstodo645]

What a way to put it!

[@Timestopper117]

He's an American citizen, so that makes him an American man that is a true American hero. Edit: He hasn't been naturalized just yet, but he still has his green card and its only a matter of time seeing as he lives in New York City, New York, and is married to someone who used to serve in the armed forces.

[@oluwatobifalade2596]

He's not an American citizen

[@Michael-lv8gt]

yea he is and fuck trump

[@2headed]

I was at this taping threes years ago and still have the fake money the staff was cool enough to let me snatch. Good memento.

[@LPChipi]

Knowing John's regard for HBO's budget, that was probably real money.

[@ImadeUlook]

Awesome!!!!

[@Joe-ih3ln]

For real? Good stuff!

[@SuperCraft1999]

@@LPChipi talkshows are some of the cheapest shows to make. A quick Google showed got cost 6 million an episode and 15 million per episode for the last season.

[@adrielsebastian5216]

I won't be surprised if the fake bills have John Oliver on its face

[@mattw4211]

So, wait... Could I just buy my own debt for dirt cheap, then forgive myself?

[@jojodelacroix]

That would literally be the best. It would probably take a while to do that though. And you would probably not be able to just buy it specifically. You'd probably need to buy it in a huge bundle and even then you would not have any way of knowing if your debt was actually inside of that bundle before buying it. So it is probably less than practical, but awesome to think about.

[@jakeb2339]

I guess depends on where you live?

[@yungshaggy9716]

holy fuck you're a genius

[@jamestaylor2682]

Here is a thought, just because you guys got me started... Create a company, from Mississippi or Texas, for example. Then start purchasing debt. Email the people directly and offer them the opportunity to buy and forgive their own debt (plus 5%, for the operating cost of the business). Group your company with other non-profits and debt charities. Set up "Go Fund Me" pages and the like. Set up Micro Loans as an alternative revenue stream to fund the core of the company. Just off the top of my head...because...why not...

[@jojodelacroix]

James Taylor Hmmm... That is a great idea, at least on the surface. You would need some capital to get it going, and you might have some serious trouble from other debt collectors. I assume they would probably quit selling to you. It would also require some more strings attached once you were actually getting business. For instance, it would probably be hard to contact so many people in a timely manner to collect money that could then be used to forgive future debts. But why not do it long enough to help out some people?

[@eliselapuce]

Am I the only one who cried at the end of this? Wow, this show is not only bringing awereness but also actually doing stuff to change the corrupt system we live in. Long live Last Week Tonight

[@nope2670]

Last week tonight, or John Oliver? Or both....

[@fofopads4450]

He wouldn't be doing shit that awesome without his team.

[@legalizitt]

Funny; I started to tear up also at the end. I thought, how silly of me, but then I scrolled down to look at the comments and yours was the first one, confirming I wasn't alone in my emotions and feelings about what I had just watched. And I'm a 58yr old straight male. Nice to know there are others with a conscience, when I was starting to give up on my fellow man. Thanks.

[@AnaluGPrd]

I was going to comment the same thing, this is amazing, :')

[@Zeviander]

Nope. The feels are real.

[@tayzonday]

This is the best thing ever.

[@YuuzahnDragon]

Bruh! Is it really you? (reply, and I'll sub)

[@tjken33]

Wow whats up Tay? PS: I totally called you Zay b4 lol

[@jakesnyder2883]

Hey Tay!!!

[@abrahamh6106]

Fuck you Tay.

[@narutoman876]

Fuck you Abraham

[@DeetexSeraphine]

Did he just... did he *really* just do that?! Damn.... mad props for this madlad!

[@totemictoad4691]

yep, that was really a thing, I mean as he pointed out, it was out of statue so technically there wasn't a legal way to compel any of them to pay,,,,, except the trick he mentioned of send them a court summons (which any lawyer could get dismissed in one motion) hope they don't bother to lawyer up and get it dismissed thus 'making them liable all over again,,,,,,

[@Gaius__]

Hehe, HBO can afford it.

[@--Dan-]

I mean... Kind of? He didn't actually give away $15m as it just wasn't worth that. It'd be like if a 5 year old wrote you an IOU for a billion dollars, they might owe you a billion dollars, but the IOU is definitely not worth that much. But he did give away $60k worth of something, which is still a good thing. Although, they'd also be able to write that off as either potentially a charitable donation or just as a loss on a business investment. Either way HBO will pay less taxes now because of it. So it's not really as big of a deal as it might first appear.

[@trumpnews7798]

@@--Dan- It is a big deal, you're failing to see the forest for the trees. The fact that debt wasn't "worth" 15,000,000 isn't the point...at all. The point is that now these 9,000 people won't have to deal with a debt buyer contacting them to pay the debt which could be from an injury that took the life of a husband, wife, child, family member. Every time somebody contacts these people to collect the money they relive the circumstances at the root cause of the debt. In that regard, the actual value of the gesture is worth far more than $15 million.

[@--Dan-]

@@trumpnews7798 As I said, it's still a good thing. I'm also saying they could have done just as much, probably more good by just donating $60k to a food bank. Not being able to pay a past debt is undeniably stressful, but even more so is not being able to pay for your next meal. And that donation solves not only the stress, but hunger as well. It's still a good thing, but it's a publicity stunt more than an actual charitable action. Which is fine. Publicity stunts that do actually help people are, as I've said, a good thing. $60k paying off debts is a better thing morally then $60k towards a big musical number in time square, for example.

[@OlOleander]

Also consider this: Oprah's guests had to pay taxes, registration, and upkeep on those cars, which are not cheap. Oliver's giveaway explicitly excludes tax penalties for its recipients.

[@TheSecondVersion]

Consider this too: Oprah could have either: -Put the cars down as "gifts" rather than "prizes" on the books, which would drastically have reduced the taxes winners would have to pay for their cars. -Just paid the taxes herself. She then said "why should I have paid?" Oh yeah, she has a point. I mean why should she cover the tax bill when she already paid so much for the cars in the first pla- *oh wait, she didn't.* The cars were given to the show for free from the manufacturer.

[@redsampler2017]

@@TheSecondVersion oprah is evil. but most people are too stupid to see her for what she really is.. she has and will continue to pay her dues to the organizations that helped her into that saddle. and to get her on the point where she is now. she is a >talkshow host that is a multi-billionaire.. < and people think there is nothing suspicious about that?? she can inject her poison to guillable women and some men all over the world, and everyone loves her for it. she is one of the first and one of the biggest worldwide influencer, and she roll with what scripts are given to her to say.. poisoning the public opinions about pretty much anything, making the abnormalnormal, and let the troubled stars of the hook,(if oprah can forgive said star?? then who are we?) having no problems with prosperity gospel doctrine of course,.. she is like the george soros of talkshowhosts. and even now she continues to play a mayor role in anything toxic. they eat it up hook line and sinker.. oh well

[@obliviousotterI]

@@redsampler2017 not to mention the time she set a swarm of bees upon her audience

[@redsampler2017]

@@obliviousotterI that is a nice meme indeed ;-)

[@sofir1943]

@@redsampler2017 all over the world? At least in Latin American we dont care for her. We have Caso Cerrado 🤣

[@cozmadicalproductions7074]

This man literally just saved 9,000 families from getting their lives ruined. Mad respect for this man; I can only hope I can be half as good as he is someday.

[@blucu001]

Jaydrian C Maybe not completely saved, but certainly lifted one of possibly many burdens. Either way, kudos to the man and HBO.

[@TheEpic22]

Jaydrian C Well it was more HBO since it was their money he spent

[@gabbystacy7250]

oh wait...CEHcafe dot com helped me cleared 76k in mortgage within two weeks of contact.

[@AhNee]

Owen, did you not listen to the whole thing? He started a debt-buying company and relieved debtors of their debts that they bought for pennies on the dollar.

[@mantrajojo4163]

CORRECTIONS FOR "Kinda 0FiNCE1VE": How did he do that? By spending 18 minutes saying "This sucks, wish we knew how to fix this." Most of it was medical debt. Do you just get high on your emotions and then post? Don't vote where ever you live. People like you are how Hitler got into power in the first place.

[@danielxdoom3642]

Dude, is John Oliver a Saint? Because, that is a FUCKING miraculous event if I have ever seen one.

[@noelwym123]

Praise be!

[@theredshirtbrowncoat423]

Praise be

[@Bravo1VE]

Praise be!

[@happypasta6]

+Bravo1VE Praise Be!

[@lusitanimendes641]

praise be

[@XandriaBraff]

Imagine being a billionaire and not doing this just out of boredom.

[@shanegarcia5963]

I'd go on a show and be like " FUCK OPRAH EVERYONE GETS A HOUSE!" Around $17,000,000 but it would make you a ton of money in advertisement

[@PigeonDetective]

You ever heard of Mr.Beast?

[@ms9771]

@@shanegarcia5963 tommrow rush to sale the house and no more money as mortgage for bank america, who sale debt to others, , could have smaller house also all in cash,

[@DaDunge]

I mean yeah at half a cent at the dollar, a single Gates class billionaire could probably forgive all the medical debt in the US without putting a meaningful dent into their bottom line, not to mention how much money they'd free up for people to buy their products.

[@romanbaranovichi5375]

If they could spend 60k and claim a 17 million tax benefit, then they all would.

[@kaiyabou]

John literally helped 9000 people from dying in debt. My respect for him has grown immensely.

[@doctorrpg6255]

Dude if only he can do the same now for my college debt. I would be so happy

[@istvanszabo3229]

Doctor RPG --> Medical debt, that John Oliver paid off for the people, is incurred mostly involuntarily.

[@doctorrpg6255]

Istvan Szabo Dude don’t take me so seriously man. Just trying to make a decent joke that many of us can relate to.

[@istvanszabo3229]

Doctor RPG, Got it! :)

[@wizardtim8573]

@msw7qw11 Doesn't stop other debt collectors from attempting to collect it.

[@pameladipzinski5752]

I thought I had a medical bill paid off, but it turned out that I still owed 21 cents and I was taken to court for it. They never contacted me, just turned it over to a collection agency. I had to miss a day from work to listen to a judge chew out a lawyer for wasting the court’s time over 21 cents. I didn’t have to pay the 21 cents or the court costs, but it did cost me a day of wages.

[@irondragonmaiden]

I'm still glad they didn't turn those 21 cents into a ridiculous amount like a thousand because of "interest" or some bullshit. Still sucks that you lost a day's pay.

[@HowToChangeName]

Spent hundreds for pennies You have to spend money to make money

[@Lunascaped]

I would've just gotten some popcorn and watched the whole thing unfold

[@Whiteythereaper]

@How to change name? their hope is that you lose money on attorney's fees for winning the case, and that you're still in the position to get financially screwed by those costs, putting you back into debt & perpetuating the cycle of debt to buy. It's explicitly anti-consumer because it only exists to harrass the poor and keep the boot of capitalism firmly pressed upon their neck as they pretend they're a successful business and not an "illegal outside of the US" bounty hunter ring.

[@jcwoodward0629]

Should've flipped a quarter to the attorney and told him to keep the change. Wearing sunglasses wouldve made it look really cool. Or dumb. Prolly dumb.

[@powerdriftofficial]

You sir are a legend!

[@ayobamigbadamosi2334]

+1

[@WindrunnerB4]

I have just been scrolling down and saw this 5 times! not going back up. Why? How?

[@LexBlazer]

John Oliver destroys everything in his path yet again...The crown's been passed: he's even better than Jon Stewart because he does satire AND takes serious action, which is a rare combination. Go John Oliver!

[@wddlaw]

How, a dog with handcuffs...he is just a fool. But I do like the topic....This gets old fast.

[@MaxGideonActor]

@@wddlaw Much like this comment bhaha ;) Side note: What the Funk and Wagnalls are you talking about? Did I miss the bit with the dog and handcuffs -- or is that about some kind of S&M canine fantasy you have that really should've been taken to the grave? Bow Wow, either way. ;)

[@Hermititis]

Agreed, but to be fair, Jon Stewart also took action. He's advocated for 9/11 first responders.

[@LeeerroyJenkins]

@Ashur Sounds more like he started one thought and began typing and.....talking about another point when something else came to mind but ...... talking like some old person who forgot to take.... but dogs are good.

[@jonmendelson1104]

@@Hermititis To be fair when the OP made his comment 4 years ago Jon Stewart hadn't done that yet. Personally I'm a huge Jon Stewart fan, just figured I'd point out that detail.

[@hwlovell]

My nephew had some student loans and he was repaying them at a low monthly rate and interest rate. Then another company bought his debt. His payments and interest skyrocketed. Now he is in default. His credit score is quite low and he can't buy a house or a car. These companies need to be stopped, they are ruining peoples lives.

[@cococatbug]

They do this with mortgages too. This is why our housing market crashed in '08. The banks sold the mortgages to big banks and then those banks skyrocketed the payments causing a lot of people to lose their houses.

[@melanieenmats]

Thanks for telling us about this!

[@hwlovell]

I agree completely. Bernie would have been another FDR.

[@zwagig1761]

Sorry to hear about your nephew and I hope his problems are resolved at the earliest. And plus like +Ahmed Ahsanullah mentioned, for me Bernie Sanders is the President that USA needs and possibly one of the world leaders the world must have.

[@zwagig1761]

Totally agree with you but I believe things have gotten out of hand or do you think there is a possibility for a Bernie Sanders nomination?

[@diegosanchez1203]

John Oliver, the kind of dude that appears at your BBQ holding a 12-pack, helps fixing the grill, plays with the kids, throws some solid one liners, compliments Jackie's Salad, cleans the table, washes the dishes and after everyone's leaving pulls out a fine chardonay to enjoy with the Hosts... what an amazing guy!

[@TheKayleeanna]

Who is Jackie?

[@Donegalguy2]

@@TheKayleeanna I am assuming Diegos wife if I was guessing. This sounds like the voice of experience talking!

[@bettybee1852]

@@TheKayleeanna lol!

[@briantyson6138]

@@TheKayleeanna you don't know? Only the best salad maker in town!

[@mavoc3094]

@@briantyson6138 you don't know? Only the best salad -maker- tosser in town! fixed

[@jeffreygreen9315]

This is gold. Continue to protect this man and his team at all costs.

[@honuswagner9348]

Every single one of those debts was out of Statute of Limitations and NONE of those people could've been sued. Sounds good on the surface, but this was nothing more than a publicity stunt. Once your debt is out of the Statute of Limitations you cannot be sued for it. You can tell any collection agency to F*** OFF and they can't do anything about it.

[@danieldaw1778]

"Fuck you Oprah! I am the new queen of day time talk!" -John Oliver, 2016

[@KevinP32270]

yea...that cracked me up lolol

[@JasonDoe1000]

God shave John Oliver!

[@ginaperkins1088]

Yes, F-Ophra. What a lot of people may not realize about that car giveaway was that the audience was full of low income folks and they were responsible for all the taxes and other costs associated with the car. They weren't made aware of that fact. She did that messed up thing for ratings. She sucks.

[@mdanso100]

"I'm the new queen of daytime talk!" 😂😂😂👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 I love John Oliver!

[@juhaniaho6698]

Maame Danso All hail John Oliver, and his hilarious new regime!

[@nfspbarrister5681]

to our mega reverend of the church of our lady of perpetual exemption, praise be..praise be..

[@viewer3147]

Maame Danso John Oliver = Amazing

[@MorroWolf]

John you're one of the best people on the planet. Love you bro.

[@Crochet_kitty]

👍👍👍

[@randooly]

Best parrot*

[@highspacefox]

Right? Him and his writers impress me every week with their attention to detail and tasteful commentary on social issues facing the U.S.A, love this show! LONG LIVE OLIVER!

[@linda_pham]

+Randooly best parrot working at a bank*

[@vitocorleone3764]

this comment deserves more likes

[@alexernst9448]

Buying old debt actually sounds like a really efficient way to help people, since it's being sold so cheaply.

[@kukachoo42]

@ billionaires

[@I.____.....__...__]

@@kukachoo42 It's not just for the rich, anybody could do it. Buy your kid's student-loan debt for pennies on the dollar. 😉

[@imzadi83fanvids7]

That's a really good idea. Can you get that specific with it? Or maybe someone should start a group to buy up student loan debt and forgive it in general. @@I.____.....__...__

[@plushtown29]

Only if you buy en masse, hundreds of thousands of pennies, in hopes that account is included.

[@DaveE7171]

@@I.____.....__...__ Love it!

[@JohnOhkumaThiel]

You’re a wonderful human being John Oliver. I actually stayed in Japan (my wife is from Japan) for an extended period because I had a health concern and knew that if I had it checked out, much more so treated at home in the United States, the cost could be crippling. Went to a surgical specialist where I had an ultrasound and blood test $40; at a later date he sent me for an MRI $85, and the visit to tell me it was nothing that my body couldn’t fix on its own was only $2. Can you imagine what that would have cost me in the United States? I would have been in debt, but instead paid out of pocket for less than the cost of a monthly insurance premium payment. It was actually cheaper to fly to Japan round trip and get examined there than see a doctor in the United States.

[@AbsentWithoutLeaving]

Is that standard for non-Japanese visitors, or did you have some special status as the spouse of a Japanese citizen?

[@JohnOhkumaThiel]

Here’s an even better example related to your question. Before I was married, living in Japan full time, I didn’t buy into the national health insurance plan. So when my eye turned the color of a ripe cherry tomato, of course I went to the hospital. For months, I was almost completely blind, my vision was a milky white, and I was extremely light sensitive. I went to the doctor at least once a week; each time I received not only medicine, but surgical treatments to relieve the pressure in my eyeball-they extracted fluid and injected my eyeball with atropine. The doctor visits, treatment, and medicine combined, for each visit, completely out of pocket, were about $40. I was on a work visa, but that didn’t matter. I could have been a tourist on holiday and it would have cost me the same, I would have received the same treatment with the same costs.

[@saleemahmad3503]

@@JohnOhkumaThiel hopefully you are doing well and dreaming of a national health care for the American people

[@JohnOhkumaThiel]

saleem Ahmad The mentality in the United States is that things like national health care for all, and ‘Affordable Housing’ are tax funded charity. Heath care and housing are supposed to be affordable, but not in the United States. We routinely run out of flu vaccine because it’s not profitable, but we never run out of cocaine. We need to get some drug lords to solve this problem.

[@petergeramin7195]

@@JohnOhkumaThiel Were you in the military or just working there and got married

[@MrLimannen]

$80k dollars for 4 days? holy shit, my dad was in the hospital for 11 weeks without paying shit, except for the ambulance-fare which was like $20. #Socialism #Sweden

[@nickhexum01]

I don't suppose anyone there would be willing to hire a hardworking American? I'd love to immigrate.

[@RevolutionGamersHD]

Socialism probably DOES work in Sweden, but it doesn't here. It's like asking Somalia to become a full-fledged democracy

[@nickhexum01]

+RevolutionGamersHD Well capitalism isn't working here for most people, so maybe we should try something else.

[@kamenriderbrx]

Some ambulance rides in the US can go for upwards of $1000, lol

[@harishsharma2974]

+RevolutionGamersHD In Sweden you don't have the debt, but the government does. And it's ALOT.

[@brandonhenley2891]

This is disgustingly true. My mom found out, and is in court over this, that she had her earnings from her 2nd job garnished to one of these collection agencies. As it turns out, 7 years ago when my mom was at work, a collection agency came to serve her for her debt. Since she was at work, they decided to serve my father in her place. Only problem was that my father was in the end stages of Alzheimer's Disease when he was served, meaning he couldn't read, write, communicate, etc.; he was being spoon fed the time he was apparently served. The day-long home health aide was the only person with him. When we looked at what the person serving him wrote, nowhere was it mentioned that he was unable to communicate, only that "an older looking man in his 80's" (my father was 42 at the time) was served. Best part of this horrifying story, it was debt accumulated for my fathers at home care. Fuck this system and fuck the people who run these companies. (Not you, John)

[@malcanth3481]

What Brandon?! What was he being?

[@melanieenmats]

Thanks for sharing the story!

[@ripp102]

That is why i always say to my american friends (i'm from europe) please, fight for your lives, don't let big corporation ruin your lives. Free healthcare should be mandatory. It's impossibile to comprend that your life is attached to a piece of PAPER!!!!!

[@florpfacejinglefribbins1984]

HOLY SHIT

[@iiiiitsmagreta1240]

Speaking as a Canadian, the idea of a healthcare system where you have to pay for your own misfortune is terrifying (and easily taken advantage of). I hope Bernie Sanders gets in and implements free healthcare. Yes, I know he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell. I can dream, though...

[@fairy5668]

Best episode ending ever. Just frustrates me that even with all of this information readily available, some Americans still don't want affordable healthcare because they would rather listen to their politicians that actual facts

[@iwillchopyoudown3100]

literally the bare minimum a government could provide its people

[@Hydrophilic]

But guys, it's so expensive it would bankrupt the country. We NEED that money for the military and bailing out the banks and corporations.

[@HopeRock425]

@@Hydrophilic Companies: let's Rob people of their money Government: I'll bale you out if you get in any trouble Military: definitely gets too much budget for developing weapons that rarely get used Government: more funding to the military "for the troops"

[@TheNinnyfee]

They also listen to their churchianity preachers.

[@Berek71182]

@@Hydrophilic I sense sarcasm.

[@XzLPlAY3RzX]

If you are in serious debt...and its easy to become a debt collector...could you cheaply buy your own debt to collect and then never collect it????

[@noneoyabizzness519]

most companies sell bad debt by volume, so you'd need to luck out in buying your own. like buying magic cards

[@hjy2187418]

if you can manage to find yours, and before all other company

[@LadyCoyKoi]

You are a genius. :)

[@dmitchell868]

LOL

[@calebdrobnick4874]

Tubbz?

[@MrKajithecat]

If I had money to toss around I'd buy peoples debt and destroy it. Nothing would gratify me more than knowing I just lifted a terrible burden off a bunch of people.

[@koffiegast]

Same, it is a shame i dont have money (yet)

[@MXCN_El1011]

things to do if you win the lottery (or invent something fucking amazing)

[@troychavkin8983]

Crowd source that shit man, I'm too lazy to do it.

[@TransparentLabyrinth]

Agreed. I hope more people with money do as John Oliver did here. It's pretty amazing the sheer scale of it.

[@ApriliaRacer14]

If I had money I would put hits out on the greedy starting with Rothschild.

[@ChrisR797]

As a Mississippian, I concur that the best way to visit Mississippi is over the Internet.

[@nykiihall1747]

Chris R same

[@nfspbarrister5681]

i tough it was by a boat while avoiding being eaten by crocodile or punched by flying Asian fish?

[@StoutProper]

Chris R is it as bad as alabama?

[@impin39212]

Chris R I’m a Mississippian also and I couldn’t agree more !

[@kenolsen1845]

Now that's funny.

[@dbunik44]

Yeah...they tried to hold me responsible for my mother's debt after she died even when she sold her house to try and sttle her medical and other debts, she still owed creditors, I said.."come at me I'm on disability and losing my vision to myopic degeneration"...they backed off...."blind privilige" I guess

[@paulkadis9453]

I really respect you for donating 15,000,000 it warms my heart.

[@InorganicVegan]

But the collectors could still come after them.

[@InorganicVegan]

***** Well, they've done it before with horrible tactics, and people who don't know the rules can fall victim. Not to mention this will undoubtedly improve their credit scores.

[@chrisbadiou1407]

For the low, low cost of $75 000

[@samsandelton6747]

Yes it is a somewhat positive action. Forgiving the debt was helpful for the people who owed, which is great. I don't want to diminish that, but the reality is that he didn't actually pay the debt. The medical care systems lost $15 million (minus what they sold the debt initially for). That's money that has to be made up somewhere and is transferred to other patients and tax payers.

[@anniesue4456]

+Joshua Young cogent point

[@jakenator13]

can we call it the walking debt

[@SidPhoenix2211]

You sir, are awesome

[@jakenator13]

Thank you good sir

[@Junedude433]

Yes.

[@rumpsteaklilith4040]

Yanis varoufakis is the walking dept

[@Roterstaub]

Fear the walking debt...

[@Davethe3rd]

This may have been one of the most awesome moments in television, no, HUMAN HISTORY! God Bless You, John Oliver!!

[@jakubfridrich7916]

This was very cheap popularity trick.

[@Diego-zz1df]

Unlike Opra's very expensive popularity trick.

[@CRASHjester]

SuperCorrector1 Actually, it's the cold, hard truth. Comedian talk show hosts like Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, and (obviously) John Oliver point out the faults in society(and even their own previous work). Why? IT'S THEIR FUCKING JOB.

[@edwardruthazer1849]

This out of statute debt would be impossible to collect, so all he really did was pay $60K to a f*cking predatory collection agency that sold it to him. Still pretty cool though.

[@dihanniloy2153]

Didn't John say that debt buyers still try to collect them illegally, even past the statute? If so, I just witnessed something truly beautiful.

[@FelisImpurrator]

Last Week Tonight: Possibly one of the only truly benevolent uses of *literally* comically large amounts of big media money. And Business Daddy knows it. Unless it somehow comes out that John Oliver is screwing his staff over in some way or putting his supposedly seven figure salary into the same sort of questionable shit he makes fun of on the show, he may be one of the few multimillionaires who actually kind of deserves to be one.

[@davidfortier6976]

He might not have been earning seven figures at the time of this episode. He probably was, but maybe not. He definitely is now.

[@madelaineseguin1490]

Awesome!

[@spacecadet9663]

I completely agree with you. I used to work as an English language correspondent for a news company back when I lived abroad, and personally had some experience with shitty media personalities who kinda talked out of both sides of their mouths so to speak. I don't pretend to know whether or not John oliver's like that, but it's a little more common than people think. In my personal experience, the media company I used to work for had large sponsorships from some pretty scummy banks who have a real bad tendency to help Wilmar palm oil company take advantage of indigonous lands in south east asia. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was seeing the reporting this company was doing around the Australian Bush fires last year. They tried time and again to cut down articles I had helped with to remove portions that might've looked bad on this specific bank, which is one of the biggest banks operating in Australia. I brought my concerns to my boss, and he more or less laid it all on the table. He pretty much told me that I would have to suck it up, and report "around" those facts. By the end of that day I had walked out in protest against the editorial board. While the company I worked for wasn't an American news company, many of my friends who work in journalism in the states have had similar experiences. The one thing I can say with certainty: media companies do not really have leftwing or right-wing bias, but they all have a corporate bias.

[@djamelkhellaf6672]

80 thousands dollars for 4 days in hospital wtf is wrong with people !!.

[@heavymechanic2]

Hospitals are GREEDY Terrorists who use unethical practices to collect money

[@DavidBioformRains]

Its a little more complicated... that includes treatments, medications, speciality care, surgery, etc. And what about the people who end up paying nothing... who pays for that... yes it is shared across the bills of the people who can pay... Is there a better way, yes... what will it take... people working together... sharing true costs... not abusing the system... passing laws that make sense... enforcing laws... volunteering when you can to help reduce costs... understanding that you are also responsible for your health... eating better, getting exercise, taking ownership of you life... reaching out to others... Learning about disease and treatments... No you don't need an antibiotic, it's a viral infection... Did you take ALL of your medication? Did you take it on the schedule prescribed... Do you avoid risky behavior.... Are people going to change? Hmm....

[@wolfrayne8355]

@@DavidBioformRains Wow. I'm sure it's all the fault of the patients that the system is set up to drain them and keep them medicated. I'm sure the patients are responsible for expensive, lousy, unreliable inaccessible healthcare. It's never the fault of the provider, especially when they commit malpractice on their patients. It's definitely the victim's fault.

[@wolfrayne8355]

@@DavidBioformRains Also, if you were really part of the healthcare field, you would hate it if people constantly prescribe themselves antibiotics or no. That's the decision of the doctor. The last thing any legitimate provider needs is a patient trying to self diagnose via the fucking internet. 99.99% of the time, that does more harm than good.

[@DavidBioformRains]

@@wolfrayne8355 Did I say that... no... it is a complex problem... and yes, I have sat beside patients when they passed, I have worked in the ER, I have performed CPR on patients... I served in the US foe 20 years... I worked in the clinical laboratory... I do have some experience and knowledge of the field. Like I said it is a complex problem, it takes all of us getting involved, at all levels... making blanket statements like what I was responding to is venting... Healthcare is a demanding field of work, some of the most dedicated people I have ever met are dedicated to this field...

[@merelizabeth8724]

You joke, but you guys have changed the lives of 9,000 people for the better. As someone who has unpaid medical debt I am watching this in tears that people can have such compassion for others. Not everyone in debt is a piece of shit who is living beyond their means, some of us are just trying to breathe. Well played LastWeekTonight, well played.

[@brucemarmy8500]

He bought expired loans. People were freed from nuisance phones calls from twerps on the phone. You got saved from a phone earache. Mt. Rushmore for John Oliver !

[@magsgreenslade3132]

Hello Mer Elizabeth. As a British person I can't understand your situation. How can somebody possibly be charged for lifesaving medical care? Here in the UK anybody, citizen, tourist, illegal immigrant or whatever has the right to free emergency care (road accident, heart attack, stroke, etc.) Why do so may poor US citizens think it's Communism to have such a system?

[@kevintorres7045]

@@magsgreenslade3132 lol ur no fucking brit. hu u kiddin? even if u r... braggin about free emergency care while trying to portray like ur just inquisitive?? LOL. it's Socialism a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of Communism.. can't figure out the connection of distributed wealth to communism.? I suggest you .... Read More .. cos ur getting schooled by an uneducated Filipino.

[@baldfeller]

@@kevintorres7045 You sound a bit paranoid, we have had the National Health Service in the UK since 1948, and we do not appear to be anywhere close to becoming a Communist state. It is no different to paying for armed forces through taxation. We just pay for nurses, doctors and hospitals too.

[@kevintorres7045]

​@@baldfeller I was answering @Mags Greenslade question " Why do so may poor US citizens think it's Communism to have such a system?" Never said that it would. she's too naive to think that just because it's working in UK that it would work in the US.

[@doyleharken3477]

Huh, after watching a few episodes of this show I'm starting to note a pattern. Letting industries regulate themselves turns out as well as letting kindergartners watch each other in the hope they don't scrawl crayon all over the room.

[@comnique939]

Woah

[@Astonsayswhat]

dead

[@paullim706]

What about the Akansas segment with corrupt legislators? Laws that presume the correctness of the debt collectors information in court? Laws that default judgement in favor of these companies in the event the defendent does not show up? OR allow them to re-roll out of statute debt? Without the governments sticky fingers over all of this, this entire business model would not work.

[@Jasperry]

this show does indeed point you to disturbing trends in america. i know europe isn't perfect but it does seem to be better

[@3choBlast3r]

+Jasper Klootwijk a lot better but we are going towards American style regulation as more and more is deregulated and given in to private hands. in theory it should improve the economy but in reality our economy has been going to shite. only reason we don't notice it that much in the Netherlands is because we have such high living standards. but more and more the middle class starts to feel the effects we have less spending power our rights are being ripped away, education is getting more expensive etc

[@natalieandrew7573]

John is someone who I will always look up to. He shows people how possible it is for stuff to happen, and he shows how easy it is for companies to really do good.

[@TenguBird]

Was gonna go to bed but John Oliver said no.

[@atrumangelus9733]

Every fucking Sunday... It's Game of Thrones, then r\gameofthrones, then John Oliver. Fuck I hate Mondays.

[@user-mv8wj3oq7g]

#Mondays4Lyfe

[@RoflZack]

same

[@161luisarias161]

Annnnd I have work at 7am....to collect debt on rental cars LOLs

[@rainqueen07]

+Zachary Taylor he's just not very bright

[@ninetysevencents]

He should have said: "You get to breathe. You get to breathe. You get to breathe. EVERYBODY GETS TO BREATHE!"

[@lemus2711]

yess

[@MagicAndReason]

#Cropdusting

[@Blastmaster321]

Best comment ever

[@Raziel312]

You get to keep your car! And YOU get to keep your car! EVERYONE GETS TO KEEP THEIR CARS!!

[@deusexaethera]

ATTENTION ANYONE WHO HAS A LARGE MEDICAL BILL THAT INSURANCE WON'T COVER: Call the medical care provider and ask them for their "out-of-pocket rate". Medical care providers have to bill insurance companies with hugely inflated rates because insurance companies insist on negotiating equally huge "discounts" for their members. When the insurance company denies coverage, that hugely inflated rate initially gets passed to the patient instead. However, the patient can ask the medical care provider to re-issue the bill at their out-of-pocket rate (i.e. the actual cost of the medical care), now that the insurance company is out of the way. It is common for the billed amount to drop 75% or more when you do this.

[@fairy5668]

I don't live in the US but I hope this info gets passed around social media!

[@deusexaethera]

@@fairy5668: Yeah, dealing with insurance companies is the closest thing most Americans will ever come to having to bribe someone to do their job. It's absurd; everyone knows the system is broken but people play along anyway, because what can any of us really do about it? We'd all have to get angry at the same time _and_ somehow put the fear of god into Congress to make them ignore lobbyists and listen to us for a change.

[@fairy5668]

@@deusexaethera That's why Bernie had such strong supported among the educated. I'm really sad for you guys that both your candidates are shit now

[@deusexaethera]

@@fairy5668: Bernie had strong support among the highly-educated because the highly-educated spend more of their lives in academia and develop a more idealistic attitude towards politics. This naturally lends them to developing far-left political opinions, because unrealistic idealism is the curse of far-left politics. (Whereas the curse of _far-right_ politics is shameless hypocrisy and double-standards.) In any event, single-payer health insurance can't work in the United States because it requires near-universal participation _in good faith_ to work, and there are too many people in the United States who will participate in _bad_ faith in any government-run program specifically to undermine it. However, there are certainly better solutions than the horrible tangled mess we have now -- such as smaller single-payer insurance run by each state that can find enough support for it among their populations, like what Massachusetts and California have.

[@fairy5668]

@@deusexaethera You know private insurance and private healthcare would still exist, right? Universal healthcare wouldn't eradicate that - it would have just helped people who couldn't afford private healthcare. Even conservative think tanks proved that it was affordable for the US. What do you mean bad faith? People not paying taxes?

[@MelchanProductions]

I was thinking if I was a millionaire I'd have a blast buying and forgiving debt like this. Imagine the people you could help

[@kevinsmithfan37]

You don't have to be a millionaire. He bought 15m worth of debt for 60k. So that works out to about 4k per 1m. I'm sure over a lifetime you could save 4k

[@I.____.....__...__]

Debt-forgiveness isn't the only way rich people can help, Elong Musk could buy $100k houses free-and-clear for a MILLION FAMILIES and only use less than half of his net-worth.

[@HowToChangeName]

Cheaper too than doing whatever PR pandering they came up with

[@ethanmagdaleno5332]

He's a chairman and a religious leader, is there anything John can't do.

[@ethanmagdaleno5332]

?*

[@aliondevouringthesun8161]

He can't draw Muhammad.

[@riftus87]

Comedian Fool*

[@comedyman4896]

DEATH TO HOMUNCULI

[@JonHT96]

+Frontschwein He can. His life expectancy would plummet immediately, but he can still do it.

[@Canada4evr]

This episode is why John Oliver deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.

[@AshishGupta-np3ld]

AGREED

[@shaec3405]

John and team

[@Underpants678]

Or at least a Pulitzer

[@toysareforboys1]

Can we donate to CARP to have them buy more debt to forgive it!??!?

[@toysareforboys1]

Sweet, thx :)

[@melanieenmats]

That is a brilliant campaign. Awesome. Wish it existed in my country, something I'll look into!

[@B1gLupu]

+Evi1M4chine you know that would only work if your dept has been sold of. Bank dept is dollar for a dollar.

[@AlgerianTalk]

what a great idea

[@dayanthawalawwatta9328]

Wow one of the smart and caring comment I've seen in ummm.... lomg time :) well done I'd love that thought very much,even though I don't have that much money nor an American.

[@crypticfable]

was on social media and stumbled upon a series of comments stating their lives had totally changed after john oliver bought their debt. it’s just nice to see the reality

[@TheRealAmericanMan]

It's ludicrous that the best journalism exists on comedy shows these days.

[@canguian]

so true!

[@tpol7042]

they probably dont have to worry as much about being shut down for telling the truth. also, most news networks use opinion segments such as bill orielly to talk about the important stuff in their opinion, not subject to the journalism world because they arent journalists. real journalists get the segments and stories that dont matter because they have more strict rules for telling the truth as far as they know it to be the truth.

[@tpol7042]

but i do agree. its a sorry state of affairs. i just dont watch the news networks anymore. i find my information elsewhere.

[@leoelliondeux]

pretty sure its been that way since the antiquity

[@neeneko]

Eh, good journalism exists, it just doesn't get the same level of attention. THAT is the sad thing. This comedy journalism isn't any better, it just happens to have a really entertaining face put on it. The good investigative journalism doesn't get nearly as much notice because it isn't entertainment focused.

[@gggnumber1]

This is incredible. Spending $60,000 plus, to prevent some other company from buying this paper debt, which should be uncollectible anyway, to give a bunch of people some peace of mind.

[@sevinceur1766]

gggnumber1 If it was uncollectible the debt buying industry wouldn’t exist, it’s there because it works, some people give in to the demands.

[@bobbob2890]

@@sevinceur1766 gggnumber1 said it SHOULD be uncollectable. You on the other hand seem to think the debt buying biz is just fine. GFY ( go fuck yourself)

[@umejiaku6]

@@bobbob2890 I don't think he was saying that it's "just fine". He was saying delinquent debt is still collected regardless of its delinquent status. Not too moral, but sounds like an interesting business venture tbh.

[@ltbeefy9054]

It's not all uncollectable. By bad debt it just means the company it orginal belonged to gave up trying to collect it. The debt itself is valid till its paid off or passed the time limit to be sued for. So while I would bet on some of the debt was already paid off, some of the debt pass the time limit, I'm sure a lot of it was living debt. With most companies they have their own time table of when they write off debt. 90 days is good market. Of a company has 90+ day old debt they will write it off on their books cause to them its uncollectable. But as long as they dont forgive it, the debt can be called on by them or who ever holds the legal rights to it

[@SageForsaken]

Sad part is most wint even know it was done for them because they dont watch credit report or read mail sent to them.

[@AARON-wn5hp]

"FUCK YOU OPRAH" holy shit that was funny

[@charlieross-BRM]

I hope he made a nice phone call to Oprah at some point. I often wonder how taking shots for cheap laughs are handled in those situations amongst celebrities.

[@consig1iere294]

Cheap laughs?

[@samhouston2000]

Believe me they all know what he is doing, they are not so uptight as you are they can take a joke. So take it easy. That was fucking funny.

[@charlieross-BRM]

Of course it was funny. Not arguing that. Maybe I should have pasted in 4 smilies. Sheesh. I'm just contemplating how these things are done behind the scenes, 'cause I would love to see the look on John's face if the producers could get Oprah to quietly walk out and stand behind him a few seconds after he shouted Fuck You Oprah, without telling him ahead of time.

[@falaflani4831]

taking shots? did u even watch the video or just went straight to the comment section

[@andreascosplay3512]

the ending is literally the best and honestly makes me cry because those 9000 people don't have to worry about that debt following them around

[@sammygirl6910]

Elijah Wood looked legit scared in that clip. Not sure he was acting.

[@dverners]

Was thinking the same thing. Lol.

[@mikiroony]

"OMFG he flipped a switch and he's gonna kill me" xD.

[@hudrowportnof4058]

"Shit dude, I thought we were acting. I didn't sign up for this. "

[@billybob-bj3nw]

"...aaaaaannnd cut." "WAIT, HE WAS ACTING? I THOUGHT HE WANTED MY LUNCH MONEY!"

[@sophis9453]

when is the clip I think I missed it?

[@Raffix394]

In Germany healthcare costs are deducted by ones sallery wealthy people pay more poorer people pay less and if you're so poor you can't afford it the gouvernmet pays. And if you're so rich you want private healthcare you can get that too. The system isn't perfect but it shocks me to see how bad it is in such a rich country like the USA.

[@privateagent]

Tiari rich country by what means? More like satan's country..

[@Azrael2812]

so you think it is fairer to just let poor people die? also what do you think is unfair about it? you can always opt out of this and get a private insurance. private insurance even gets you preferential treatment in hospitals/doctors offices at the price of being less cost efficient than the state insurance. seems pretty fair to me and no one gets discarded for being poor in the process.

[@hatthecat123]

Welfare State is best girl. Thanks for paying for my mum's cancer treatment! I always found it stunning in breaking bad that none of it would of ever happened if there was some form of universal healthcare. Also mandmyellow this is a pretty interesting podcast done by an american GP about the history of health insurance www.maximumfun.org/sawbones/sawbones-health-insurance

[@mykaelbriley673]

Wow. You certainly have silently pissed off a LOT of Americans. You weren't wrong at all in what you said, but the blood pressure spikes that comment caused just created more medical debt for John Oliver to buy and forgive.

[@nejlaakyuz4025]

Rich paying more seems a bit weird for me, i mean government paying for poor that cant pay or pay a portion if they are relatively poor is very good, but punishing people of being rich is just wrong.

[@dmitchell868]

Dude, this guy seriously just saved a bunch of lives.

[@baronobeefdip2]

I'm from texas and I think what he did was awesome, but I'm waiting for someone on my facebook page to say what he did was stupid, so far nothing.

[@dmitchell868]

Hard to prove it was a stupid move

[@baronobeefdip2]

Agreed, but in time they might find something, I understand a lot of people hate him, but that's mostly because he makes fun of the people they like (Trump, televangelists, state governor's (please take on Greg Abbott, and please Greg Abbott say something stupid), plus many others).

[@mattjohnston2]

Was thinking exactly the same thing. I mean, let's face it, 60k isn't a whole lot for a good marketing campaign at his level, but the ultimate good it did at the end, plus the increase in ratings? It's such a win win, he deserves a medal just for thinking it up!

[@mattjohnston2]

I'm in Canada, so medical debt isn't the concern here, but we have other things to worry about. Not to sound selfish, but it's hard to see initiatives out to other countries when there's the level of suffering right here at home.

[@zahraf.777]

"It is done! I am the new queen of daytime talk!" God, I love John Oliver.

[@mandlamthembu5162]

I was really hoping he'd call the button he hit at the end the "debtinator" haha

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

That's actually a really good joke.

[@curiositea258]

Best comment! This should really be pinned at the top.

[@randalllacombe293]

1.) Buy your own debt if you're in a state that doesn't require a license to purchase debt 2.) Never collect on yourself

[@thereaper2615]

Thats a great Lifehack, Get a huge debt, dont pay it, then buy your own debt for pennies on the dollar. But can you really locate your debt on the whole mess.

[@warrickwalter426]

3.) Wait for it to expire the statutory limitations, resell it again and ignore their collection efforts. Even cheaper credit.

[@Goreuncle]

+Randall Lacombe Well, being in debt means that you don't have any money to spare (among other things). So... how in the world are you gonna buy a debt package then? With unicorn blood? Do you think debt packages are free or something? Debt packages may be sold for a tiny fraction of the total debt amount, sure, but we're talking millions of dollars here... a tiny fraction of that debt would still constitute a fortune most people don't have (let alone people who are already in debt).

[@constantinethetrickster9661]

Can you buy a single persons debt. It would be really worth looking into. Also if I was American I would make sure to always keep records of debt payments in case they try to collect on something I already paid.

[@aaronswink2100]

You can't just buy one person's debt, especially not your own. They sell debt in batches.

[@Polish_Hammer1987]

I like how John is explaining to me how this works instead of learning it in let's say HIGHSCHOOL

[@SouthParkFan1998]

Because highschool is for things which you will obviously use in every day life, like analysing poems, learning a dead language like Latin, and trigenomtry. Where would you ever use skills like knowing about taxes and debt, sewing, or writing resumes in every day life? That's just silly.

[@Digitizeddragon]

scary huh?

[@thecraftycyborg9024]

Art Koslinski - My mom teaches middle school and high school math. One of the biggest lessons she grills into her pre-cal students is how various loans work and how to calculate all of the interest, etc, on things like car loans. Some of the kids would scoff, until one day a senior came running in and hugged her. He had just bought his first car the day before and had taken his calculator with him and done all the math. In the end, he wound up saving himself $4,000 just by knowing a few equations.

[@rmoim99]

This is all very opinionated. Remember, he’s a comedian first lol.

[@cliqclaq508]

To be fair even if they would teach you this, I highly doubt you wanted to hear it. Only if your teacher is a charismatic youtuber.

[@nemo9540]

That is the nicest thing I've ever seen a show do, all those people who have been struggling with medical debt must be so happy now. Nice one john Oliver and co you have restored my faith in humanity, thank you.

[@lunavixen015]

The funny thing about that Oprah giveaway, is that the cars were not actually free, the audience members still had to pay the taxes on those cars (about $6,000-$7,000 on average), and many people had to give up the cars (they were listed as prizes, not gifts, which meant they were not tax exempt). So you've done even more than you said.

[@arxsyn]

lunavixen015 Hmmm makes me wonder if the companies can cook the books and still make money off the "free" prizes.

[@babybop114]

cam. life You'd still have to pay the taxes on the car in addition to taxes on whatever loans you take out (why would you?) plus taxes on the sale of the car, which combined could be more than the price of the car. It also can adversely impact the rest of the taxes you pay on your actual income, so it could be harmful to anyone not making a whole lot of money.

[@neildecker3061]

"The Oprah Winfrey Show paid the sales tax and registration for each car, but not the gift tax, which could be up to $7,000 for some audience members. While the show did offer a cash prize for those who didn’t want to or couldn’t pay the gift tax, some audience members complained to the press, which devastated the producers."

[@b.r.9631]

No duh. EVERY giveaway is subject to tax.

[@jessicalove4111]

Just because people were responsible for disclosing and paying taxes for the free car prizes on their personal income tax filings does not reduce the total dollar amount of what Oprah "gave away" and it definitely does not add to the total dollar amount of medical debt Jon forgave so your statement that he has "done even more than he said" is nonsensical. Oprah gave away brand new cars to each qualified audience member, paid the sales tax, title and licence fees, registration fees, and offered the cash equivalent to people who couldn't keep the car and pay when they filed their personal taxes. The car's value is above the amount allowed as a tax free gift so it doesn't matter that it was considered a prize rather than a gift because they have to pay taxes on it either way. They were offered the cash equivalency so if they couldn't take the car and then pay their taxes then they should've taken the cash and and set aside the amount needed for taxes until they filed. At worst, they don't know that gifts and prizes above a certain value are subject to taxation, they take the free car, free TT&L and registration, learn that free prizes are subject to taxation, sell the car, pay their taxes, and pocket the rest of the money. Anyone who gave their free car away for nonhumanitarian reasons just because of the taxes is an idiot. Even if they gave it to a qualified charity for a tax deduction the values won't evenly cancel each other. They could've requested the cash or sold the car and kept the free money minus taxes or just said no thank you to the free prize from the start. It's not Oprah's fault if some people don't understand their tax obligations or can't figure out how to get cash from a prize so they can pay the tax and still pocket the rest of the money. I still can't believe that some ungrateful people actually complained to the media about getting a free car or money or that anybody would use those complaints to degrade the generosity of Oprah's free giveaway of millions worth of cars.

[@TheTheddi]

Solution: make a Website where people can buy off their own debt for the amount the Bank is willing to sell, plus 10% Fee for Website maintenance. Edit: John Oliver already did this. Good job!!

[@bolzicco]

LOL c'mon man

[@TheMrVengeance]

Yes, and if you made this a standard practice "credit" would have no value and the economy would collapse. GOOD JOB!!

[@TheTheddi]

No, debt buying would have no value. Credit itself wouldn´t lose any value.

[@TheMrVengeance]

TheTheddi - Of course it would, are you serious? If everyone starts taking out loans of $10k, but never pay it back so it gets sold and written off for an eventual value of $3k, $7k just disappeared. If you don't see how that would crash the entire basis on which credit is built, you're beyond explaining..

[@TheMrVengeance]

***** - Er, yes it can. If I withdraw a $100 from my account and burn the $100 bill. That money was just destroyed and disappeared from rotation.

[@randomname3790]

"I AM THE QUEEN OF DAYTIME TALK!" John Oliver is best cinnamon roll ever.

[@chrisivanchev]

8:55 I didn't know that alligators can be investors and they are called, "Investorgators!" 🤣🤣🤣

[@rohitr9400]

If other wealthy Americans, late shows or even the government sees the end of this segment as a sort of a dare or even as a bit of bullying from John Oliver, it could mean at least a few weeks of debt-free life for many poor Americans. Let's hope for the best. Praise be mega-reverand..

[@EternalBooda]

$60,000 vs. $15,000,000? That's 0.4% of the original debt. So the 12.25 trillion dollars in debt mentioned at the beginning would still be 49 billion. Still, when we're talking orders of magnitude, 49 billion is a piece of cake compared to anything in the tens of trillions. You know what 12.25 trillion minus the 15 million they gave away is? It's still 12.25 trillion. Yeah, the difference is so small you'd just round up that 5 at the end.

[@rohitr9400]

EternalBooda huh?

[@takatamiyagawa5688]

Most of that 12.25 trillion will be paid back as intended. He mentioned only about 436 billion of it was "seriously delinquent". Assuming you could buy the 436 billion at 0.4% of its face value (and you probably couldn't), that's still 1.744 billion, and no-one has the motive to "donate" that much money in the same way John Oliver just "donated" $60k.

[@cpMetis]

Imagine if this became this year's Ice Bucket challenge....

[@Pringlesman]

That is actualy a pretty good idea cpMetis. Imagine if instead of buying 8 million dollars worth of cars (which most of those individuals couldn't pay the taxes on) Opera spent that 8 million at the same .4$ rate and forgave 2 billion dollars worth of medical debt.

[@ceofounder]

Buying/purchasing/absolving the debt of those individuals who suffered medical afflictions and financial hardships is absolute humanitarian awesomeness! Cheers/salute and respect to you: Sir John Oliver! Last Week Tonight is one of the best shows on cable television!

[@malloc7108]

I'm glad these are on KZbin. None of the problems described in any video are fixed, so they're all still relevant when the algorithm recommends them years later.

[@johannvonbabylon]

My grandma died completely broke and in debt with no estate. Awhile later I picked up a call from some collector who was like "this has to be paid", and I said "well go on and file a lien against the estate, oh wait, there is no estate. sucks for you." And then he said something like "wouldn't you feel better if this was paid?" I was drinking pepsi at the time and I squirted it out of my nose laughing, and then I told him that happened and hung up.

[@AbraminWonderland]

Somewhere in the distance, Josh Peck can be heard sobbing over Oprah's loss

[@axela.9247]

iunderstoodthatreference.jpeg

[@dankcrow4025]

he'll find a way, he'll find a way.

[@muhammedahmed467]

"I hope they cancel Oprah!" "You take that back!"

[@axela.9247]

***** Thanks, i like urs too

[@aubreykue]

fantastic

[@MosnoAlMoseeki]

Your are a Superhero! Nice done sir! :)

[@LadyhawksLairDotCom]

If Marvel made movies about people like this, I might actually start caring about cinema again.

[@jojojorisjhjosef]

You're / you are* nicely done / well done* That's ok, I knew what you meant :)

[@avedic]

*0:09* lol...and they didn't even include that abysmal cinematic train wreck of Christian end-times propaganda.... *_"Left Behind"_*. I'm seriously starting to think Nic Cage's agent genuinely hates him.

[@MosnoAlMoseeki]

hahahaha! Poor Nic Cage, I actually like the guy and enjoy his acting, and I do think your right, his agent hates him ...I have yet to see "Left Behind", now I'm curious about it hahaha

[@niboe1312]

666th like

[@RealMikeGibbs]

That’s awesome! Shoutout to him, and HBO for helping 9,000 people out!

[@Merthalophor]

Canada: Here's healthcare, never worry about medical bills ever again US: Here's $14,000,000 of debt for 60k, go ahead and sue each and every one of them

[@thagodwecreate5179]

Land of tha sheep. Home of tha slave. Fuck america

[@jobokidd]

Yet if you suggest Universal Healthcare to some, they freak out wondering "how are we going to pay for it", the propaganda bloody works, shame, there's a proven solution there... #yang2020 #YangGang

[@carsoncase223]

@@jobokidd YANG GANG

[@notsanctioned8590]

@@jobokidd Of course you know that we keep the house and don`t take back the Senate That will never happen. Don`t you?

[@nurichniemandsonst9639]

@Tyler Durden Google Triage and learn something.

[@matthewrichards506]

I know that humor is a huge focus of this show, and this form of infotainment has near equal parts of education and humor, but all of the education and humor aside...kudos to everyone involved with this show for even considering doing something so amazing. And may whatever God you pray to bless you and smile upon you for standing up for us and doing it. Thank you all for being so amazing.

[@roboterson]

As someone was recently quoted saying "its a sad day when we get our politics from our entertainment and our entertainment from our politics". Its a great way to teach people but I'm concerned that even less people will be following politicians closely and digging into their story's.

[@guavaman925]

The thing I love about John Oliver is that he can talk the talk, but when it's time to make a change - he fucking does it!

[@belindalewis7474]

I 💕 love John Oliver 💕💕💕 I watched this episode 3 hrs ago on 1/25/2022 and then cooked Taco's for my daughter and grandkids. (Enough backstory). Right after dinner a debt collector called my daughter for a debt from 2014. I told my kid I just saw this on John Oliver, I quickly looked up the statue of limitations on debt in Florida. ( I know Florida of all places) It's 5 years so my daughter explained that this is an uncollectible debt. The collector replied that this was from an attorney, to which my daughter explained that he should know better and that any further communication on said debt will result in complaint to Florida Bar and lawsuit for harassment. I 💕💕💕💕 love John Oliver.

[@somebody355]

I got hella respect for John for doing this.

[@lacountess]

Free public healthcare will solve so many problems. No one should have to pay for the right to breathe.

[@Sasu123456789x1]

agreed

[@g3toutth3way]

obama care doesnt cover 100% of the cost dumbass

[@Sontraid]

Sad thing is, in Germany this works just fine. I mean you need to pay here and there and it costs enough if you need to do something but wont die if you dont, but its a waaay better system then just paying everything. But thats Capitalism for you :)

[@lacountess]

Sontraid Same in Canada. You'll pay for the extras but not for the essentials that keep you alive. And if you are employed even the extras (dental, physio, etc.) are covered by your extended so you could do your job pain free.

[@lacountess]

***** Sad for you. Blame your congress. I wouldn't want to live in America when that's the best they are willing to offer people like they aren't worth more.

[@alexanderjamesaustin]

lol "fuck you opera!" xD

[@LadyCoyKoi]

Oprah.

[@c0xb0x]

That doesn't make sense.

[@ammiemarie]

No, no. The opera sucks, too. Clearly.

[@Vague961]

Opera as a browser also sucks. So I guess this is valid.

[@cooper5481]

+Ammie-Marie Littke LOL😂

[@casey8825]

John, you are the most fantastic human being. Thanks for being you!

[@HelloHi-ik5lx]

the scariest thing to me is how easy it is to legally get others’ SSN and phone numbers. Someone used my home number for their debt and i keep getting calls. It makes me sad to think their SSN is on sale too

[@I.____.....__...__]

TFW you keep getting debt-collection letters for the previous tenant because the debt-collectors are too stupid and lazy to bother just looking up the current address. 😒

[@billnye69]

Canadian here, I'd just like to share a small comparison about U.S and Canada health care system from my life time. Please note, this is not me trying to be hateful. I'm just being sadly honest. I had cancer when I was 18 months old (In 1986) and I ended up losing a kidney and other small bits of my body during my treatment. I was then on a long term follow up study for 16 years where once a year I would go to Toronto and they would do every test in the book on me as not many survived cancer in the 80s. My parents never received a single bill in all that time and I've been healthy ever since. Last year, my cousin (Lives in the U.S) was in a car accident with no health coverage. She was sent home from the hospital after only half a days care and my Aunt had to finish pulling the glass out of her body at home and finish bandaging her up. They received mass billing for that half a day. My Mom who is a proud American but lives in Canada has said to me......"I love my country but if we had been living there when you had your cancer, I'm not sure you'd be alive today." There's a saying, "You can't put a price on human life"......The medical system in the U.S begs to differ.

[@saucersgirl]

Very late to the party but as someone who is drowning in medical debt (zero "consumer debt" thankfully I live below my means besides med bills and concurrent car repair costs) you are freaking awesome. Catastrophic medical bills in America can affect anyone, no matter their financial status. It's pathetic how it works in America but I am so happy for those people you were able to help!!!

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

saucersgirl I don't know if I'm too late to offer this, but have you checked with the financial office at the hospital about a discount rate on your care? Most hospitals have some method to lower your total cost if you can prove you can't afford that amount. Hopefully this helps.

[@jobokidd]

We Andrew Yang in office to bring in Universal Healthcare! Check him out #Yang2020 #YangGang

[@waywardgoddess1153]

Ditto, all my dept is medical bills, student loans and my current car loan. This country is so fkd up

[@waywardgoddess1153]

@@nicholasfarrell5981 that doesn't even help. How much lower could they make an $80,000 bill? I also know that if you need to get air lifted in a medivac helicopter, that flight alone will cost you $500,000! One of my bills that was for an ambulance ride, a brain scan and stitches was $12,000. It's effing ridiculous and if your bill is high enough, there's no way to lower it to an affordable price

[@jobokidd]

@@waywardgoddess1153 We need to collaborate on a Debt buying group that buys back your debt of 0.5 cents on the dollar and we all buy our own debt back!

[@CrazyQuilman157]

"I AM THE NEW QUEEN OF DAYTIME TALK!" said the British Night Show Comedy Guy. Kill it, Queen.

[@yonigoldpresents238]

Fun fact.. in order to hold you accountable for a debt, The debt owner is obligated to possess your original signed contract. Request they send you that in writing. If they can't produce it, they cannot prove you owe them money in court and you will have zero legal obligation to repay it!

[@StealthyDead]

If you can afford to take these millionaire conglomerates to court

[@gaberobison680]

And more specifically. I didn’t agree to pay whatever jackass has the contract. I agreed to pay the lender. So the entire industry is just categorically illegal

[@JohnDoe-bd5sz]

@@StealthyDead If you are clearly in the right, would it not be possible to just appear in court by yourself and ask the judge to get them to show the document. No need to hire a lawyer.

[@yonigoldpresents238]

@@gaberobison680 no really, cause the contract can legally be transferred....but they are so lazy, they often forget to transfer the initial paperwork...and without that, they cant prove ownership of the debt.

[@needhelppayattention9446]

Fun fact. That is complete nonsense. You could not be more wrong.

[@andreaskyriakou9814]

John Oliver and his kind insist they are not journalists but comedians. I insist John Oliver is a really funny journalist!

[@UnseenBubby]

South Park is a comedy show that has significant political commentary. Last Week Tonight is a comedy show that has significant political commentary.

[@xoMissTaylorDivine]

+Neo-Mad Dog very true

[@atanunath]

A very "serious" funny actually more serious than actual journalists !

[@Necroskull388]

He uses real information and cites his sources on air, which is more than most major news channels do... so I'm inclined to agree.

[@MrZeSpy]

For the record, most TV and Radio news outlets cite local newspapers as well as major papers like the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post in relatively small print in order to avoid detracting from the rest of the show. Although I love John, I don't consider him and Jon Stewart journalists on the basis that they deliver information with a bent on comedy rather than impartially.

[@damonchampion823]

Educated and Entertained. John Oliver is a Legend 👍🏻

[@brucemarmy8500]

if it please your majesty and the court; the simple are served.

[@jmbo72]

3,255 debt collectors watched and hated this video lol

[@svpmvp2433]

jmbo72 the job pays well

[@equalssign44]

I’m going to make a point of not asking you how you know that @Julio aguilar

[@lashlarue7924]

So, you don't think there's such a thing as a deadbeat debtor? Is it really that simple?

[@michaelmaley4923]

Understand your negative job title & worst job by far. Just grow up and deal with it, you filled out the employment application.....

[@junelawson5719]

@@lashlarue7924 Not really the point. If a debt has been written off for tax purposes by the original creditor and you bought it for a bargain, I don't really think you have any ethical justification to collect, nor should have an legal authority to collect. You didn't lend them any money. You're just making a killing, mostly by harassing the impoverished. Also, even if you're collecting for the original creditor, most delinquent debt is delinquent because the borrower is financially incapable of paying. Some might be capable of paying, but that isn''t most of your job.

[@kingworm7168]

I was sued by a debt collection agency. They took a $500 debt and turned it into almost 4K in debt. They froze my account so I couldn’t pay my bill. Refused a payment plan and were nasty to me. I was 6 months pregnant and was a hysterical mess for a month. It was horrible

[@davidfont2596]

"I am the new queen of day time talk" is just gold.

[@orangemage9522]

You are my hero John Oliver. Seeing that literally brought me to tears. Thank you for your humanity.

[@airbrat]

John Oliver for President. Yep, you saw it here first people.

[@Aelevant]

nope...born English lol

[@Prabhakaran-td9gd]

Okay. John Oliver for Queen.

[@jacobesnard]

+Aelevant didn't stop Ted Cruz, who is Canadian

[@331coolguy]

+Jacob Esnard good point

[@Aelevant]

thats more like it.

[@emeraldfire413]

While I love the void that John Oliver basically lives in now, I miss over the top but somehow serious stunts like this

[@honuswagner9348]

Every single one of those debts was out of Statute of Limitations and NONE of those people could've been sued. Sounds good on the surface, but this was nothing more than a publicity stunt. Once your debt is out of the Statute of Limitations you cannot be sued for it. You can tell any collection agency to F*** OFF and they can't do anything about it.

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

I remember when my mom was out of insurance. The hospital packed her into an ambulance and told the driver to drop her ass at a homeless shelter. The paramedic in back remembered where he picked her up twice in the past. I opened the door to see a dying woman with two weeks to live, jaundiced skin, and screaming in pain. She was dirty and dehydrated. They claimed they were humane by sending a little morphine dispenser with her. I cleaned her, fed her, and gave her treatment for bed sores for two nights. I was sixteen. For the year following her death, the hospital billing department itself actually called me and threatened me with debt. They later hired a collector to terrorize me personally. I was seventeen. They never got their god damn money when I said I was seventeen and sue me for what?

[@udayveerbhadauria1659]

This sounds like something straight out of a third world country. And people claim that this is the greatest nation in the world.

[@theotherside931]

*Bloody hell. And here we are being told that America is paradise.*

[@chrisbowers3143]

I live in New Zealand where the govt cares more about financing health care and education than waging war for the interests of the rich. The undignified passing of your Mum is a terrible commentary on society in the US,,,, Shame on the "Christians" who run your country and allow this to happen.... Viva the revolution..... I hope your in better place now, maybe immigrate?

[@kieranmorris7315]

@@chrisbowers3143 emigrate*

[@chrisbowers3143]

Kieran Morris ; yes your right thank you for that, was thinking of her coming here more than her leaving but didn’t put that across very well.

[@emewyn]

I almost feel bad for HBO having to pay for all of his shenanigans... "You want to buy WHAT this time!?" "Just the medical debt for 9,000 Texans, I can explain..."

[@bobbyboucher1096]

I like to see a few of those board meetings... "Sigh, what now John? Okay John." John exits the room..."Seriously can you guys fucking believe that guy?"

[@Zenologia4673]

I’m sure he only gets away with this because he rakes in a shit load in comparison to what he buys

[@carlbehmn2580]

Bree Cameron he has to be making the company significantly more money than his budget. So if he's able to give away 14 million which is nothing to HBO. John has to be raking in the dollars and views. Also it's a tax write off, they give money all the time.

[@fallendreamer2411]

You do realise that he just saved 9,000 people from having to pay debt that they shouldn't have to pay, right? If they did pay for it their financial situation would go down the drain. You seriously mean to tell me that what he did was wrong?

[@xivCatumin]

Not saying it's wrong from a moral standpoint. But in general, from a financial standpoint, that was pretty stupid.

[@jdw5956]

Can I buy my own debt for this cheap?

[@keirarush9505]

That is kind of genius...

[@FragMentEditing]

After doing some googling, it appears no, you can't buy your own debt.

[@jonatanlukac5894]

Well couldn't a friend just buy it ? and you would pay that friend?

[@jtshen]

yes you can.. the problem is, you don't know which debt collection agency owns your debt, so you don't know who to reach out to. even the collector that comes to your door or call you may not work directly for the collection agency but for a company that the agency contracts out the leg-work to.

[@TheMrVengeance]

The point is that, just like in the episode, debt gets sold in bulk, and you get it offered to you, you don't ask for it. So to "buy your own debt", you'd have to start a debt collecting company, get lucky enough that the company where your debt is happens to offer their debt to you. Then you'd somehow have to spend multiple tens-of-thousands of dollars to buy that debt. Only at that point can you start figuring out if your debt is among it. ... And to be honest, if at that point you had the tens-of-thousands of dollars to buy debt, you could've probably just paid your debt more easily and cheaply.

[@switchbladekid1365]

I was hounded by a collection agency for a surgery I never had, until I called the surgeon and read him the riot act. I'm female; his patient was male.

[@Albtraum_TDDC]

what riot act?

[@Nynzy]

@@Albtraum_TDDC A Quiet one, I would imagine xD~

[@AnimePlaysMinecraft]

In Britain you pay, on average, £200,000 over your working life in healthcare benefit taxes. Not only does this mean people with terrible health problems or people who need treatments for cancer can get them without paying a huge stash of money at once, it also means people who cannot afford the tax; homeless people; people on welfare and many others, can get treatment without worries. You also never have to worry about people saying "your insurance doesn't cover this." I think it's great to get taxed a little bit each year to help not only yourself, but others.

[@GreenDragon11]

Anime Deamon I wholeheartedly agree!!

[@mw47]

"hurr durr this is communism" - 'Mericans

[@emmamacdonald2374]

USA government spends more per person on healthcare. The reason people in Britain pay so much tax relative to those in the US is not because we get free healthcare but because we have a much lower corporation tax. But I agree with the statement (-:

[@angiegarza9021]

John Oliver one beautiful person. It can literally make someone cry in tears to get ride medical debt so much joy can brought from it.. John Oliver keep being amazing how you are.!!!!!

[@lemjustlem]

Speaking from personal experience after a few brain surgeries, having two different markers wiped clean brought me to tears twice in ten minutes...

[@joeymt9215]

11:44 *sees state they live in on there* Shiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt....

[@Grownupfun]

cyka blyat

[@TylerXO]

P90 rush B

[@hidamusanovic3292]

please lpppp1 LP hi p omlmll

[@SenorEscaso]

My state wasn't even yellow on the 13:55 map. Yes!

[@Timestopper117]

For all the shade he likes to throw on Florida I never see it highlighted in any of his models.

[@rockerseven]

It really shows what a scam debt and our (lack of) healthcare system is in this country, if $15 million of debt is easily able to be sold for $60,000, on the promisings that the company buying the debt can make much more.

[@meilinwu1731]

So let me get this straight - HBO paid $60k for the $15 mil debt and is turning this over to the RIP thing to absolve the 9000 people of the combined $15 mil debt? Did I get it right?

[@SixxFold]

60k

[@ThePublicDominion]

That is indeed what happened.

[@Goblin_Mom]

I mean it's out of statute so technically they don't owe it anymore, but it's possible that someone else would have bought that debt and harassed them over it hoping that enough of them wouldn't understand what "out of statute" means that they could recoup their costs...

[@Mrchivo33]

yep

[@ThraseaGlow]

Yup, nailed it on the head.