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Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 1, 2023

Happy New Year!

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I had to visit the emergency room earlier this year for a nose bleed. At the time I was discharged (October 2022) I paid a 200$ bill to the hospital, foolishly believing that this was the entire cost of the visit. I subsequently received a 357$ physicians statement. This little episode in medical billing really irritated me since I felt that the hospital had hidden the actual cost of their services and because the amount was absurd for the services rendered (10 minutes for a physicians assistant to apply some topical TCX). As a result I have been thinking of not paying it and am trying to understand if recent changes to that the credit reporting agencies have made may allow me to get away with this without damaging my >800 credit score.

In particular it sounds like medical debts < 500$ will no longer impact a credit score starting in 2023 https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/credit/score/can-medical-debt-impact-credit-scores/ and I am trying to determine if this determination is made based on the date of the service(s) (october 2022) or the date that a bill is sold to a collections entity, which could occur in late January. I also discovered that paid medical debt collections haven't impacted a consumers credit score since 2022 (https://investor.equifax.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1222/equifax-experian-and-transunion-support-u-s-consumers), so its my understanding that even if they are able to sell this bill to a collections entity, the worst that could happen is that I would simply have to pay the amount at a later time.

Does anyone know if this analysis is basically correct? Its my understanding that their only other recourse would be to try and sue me which is unlikely to happen over a 357$ bill.

I'm just curious if you'll tell us about the severity of the nose bleed. I get them occasionally, but I have never had one so bad that required medical attention.

It was really bad (had gone on for about 3 hours). I recently moved to a much drier part of the country. I bought a humidifier and now use Vaseline a couple of time a week. This seems to have fixed the issue.

I live in dry, mile-high Albuquerque, a climate known as “high desert”. Were there no city here, it would be scrub grasslands as far as the eye could see. Relative Humidity is routinely 45%, as low as 30% in summer when temps reach 90F.

I stay hydrated by drinking water the moment I feel the least bit thirsty. This results in lips which never need Chapstick, and mucus membranes which are always moist. However, the nose still occasionally bleeds. I’ve gotten really, really good at avoiding nosebleeds lasting longer than a minute:

  • As soon as it starts, shove the nearest absorbent paper in the sanguine nostril: facial tissue (Kleenex), toilet paper, or paper towel in descending preferability.

  • Grab the nearest drinking water bottle, (unopened) press against nape of neck to chill. If summer, apply to front vessels as well. Water inside will be at most room temperature, usually cooler; shrink blood vessels and chill blood simultaneously. When neck flesh is chilled, apply to lower forehead/eyebrow ridge as well, and maybe sides of nose.

  • If no closed water bottle is nearby, apply cool tap water to neck and forehead, let evaporative cooling chill the flesh instead. Cool water on bridge of nose also.

  • Change out absorbent paper. Breathe out (never in) through both nostrils to help platelets clot via CO2 exposure. Always tilt head forward or upright, never back.

  • Repeat cooling if nosebleed lasts long enough for flesh to warm back up. Repeat nasal tampons until clotted.

scrub grasslands as far as the eye could see

It's fair to not count the Sandia forests, but what about the cottonwoods? "Bosque" might be a bit of an overstatement, but there's at least more than scrub and grass in that narrow strip next to the river.

True, the high desert is punctuated by a seasonal ribbon of water surrounded by gorgeous forest. Agriculture has attracted humans to the Rio Grande valley for millennia. Ancient red rock cliffs and multicolored rockscapes show ancient paths of much deeper waters, and towering mountains — the Sandias, Manzanos, Manzanitos, Sangre de Christos, and the giant cone of Mount Taylor — showcase the stunning variety of plant life our desert can boast.

But, as sure as the Rio Grande’s path down the heart of this vast state to become the border between Texas and Mexico, you can be certain that the mile-high dry air will yield nosebleeds.