I want to stress that this is not universal, and in some states, medical providers are pursuing this debt aggressively. This is not to say you should not be aggressive in countering their claims (I do this for folks in a volunteer capacity), but you should be knowledgeable as to your potential credit and financial risk exposure before proceeding.

NPR Investigation: Many U.S. hospitals sue patients for debts or threaten their credit - https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/21/1144491... - December 21st, 2022

Some Hospitals Kept Suing Patients Over Medical Debt Through the Pandemic - https://www.propublica.org/article/some-hospitals-kept-suing... - June 14th, 2021