So there’s a health care crisis. We all know that. Looking at the facts, some hospitals have come up with a nifty way to go after debtors. Sick, in debt, chosing between prescriptions and food? That just might make you a good auction item.

Hospitals used to rely only on collection agencies to call debtors at all hours of the night. Now they’re putting patient debt up for auction. Any firm can buy. Auction’s one way of putting it. Another is commodification. Commodification’s what mortgage companies did to high-risk mortages – bundle them all up into bonds and sell them off. Perhaps you’ve heard what happened – some call it the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

The hospitals think the bidding for patient debt will go well. You can even do it online at sites like this: arxchange.com, Those who win the auction, "win" the debt — and the right to badger the debtors. They’ll follow the hospitals’ rules of course. Of course. The winning bidder will be the bidder who collects the most money – unless, well, unless they don’t collect any.

What happens then? "Winning bidders may have to work harder to make a profit from auctioned debt," an analyst at a collections industry group told the Wall Street Journal. "Working harder means sometimes using strategies that are more aggressive." Expect tougher tactics from collectors near you as collectors try to claw back the money they put up at auction. Or maybe they’ll resell the resold debt. One things for sure — if you liked the melt-down that started with subprime mortgage speculation – you’ll love sick, poor-patient debt-poker.

The F Word is a daily commentary by Laura Flanders.