5 years ago I had an appendicitis while I was unuirnsed and was making a whopping 9 dollars an hour. Needless to say, I didn't have money to pay for it. Long story short, after charitable help I was still left with about $3k in doctors bills that I never paid. My gf and I are reviewing our credit to purchase a house soon and I still have those collections. I said I had no intention of ever paying them off b/c even if I pay the collections they won't come off my credit and my credit score won't change. She said I should pay them back b/c it was the right thing to do . If even after I pay them back those collections will still hurt my credit why should I pay them back. If they would remove them I would pay them back tomorrow. If you pay someone back later it's better than not paying them back at all. But the way the credit system works if you pay someone back it still looks effects your credit score as if you never paid off your debt. It's not my fault the credit system is unfair to the consumer. Is there any real benefit to paying people back after them having sent the bill to collections? Remember, this is dying in an emergency room bill, not I bought a TV I couldn't afford collection. Spare me the moral argument.