medical debt

Marcus and Allyson Ward were paying off a debt dating back to the birth of their twins, Theo and Milo. They are among 100 million Americans with medical debt, according to a KHN/NPR investigation.

Medical debt affects millions, and advocates push IRS, consumer agency for relief

5:00am March 07, 2023

by Noam Levey

More than 50 consumer and patient groups want the Biden Administration to aggressively protect Americans from medical bills and debt collectors. The effort follows a KHN/NPR investigation.

Jeff and Kareen King received a hospital bill for $160,000 a few weeks after Jeff had a procedure to restore his heart rhythm.

A 'medical cost-sharing' plan left this minister to pay most of his $160,000 bill

9:56am January 09, 2023

by Bram Sable-Smith

Instead of health insurance, the Rev. Jeff King had signed up for an alternative that left members of the plan to share the costs of health care. That meant lower premiums, but a huge hospital bill.

Dr. Eckart Rolshoven examines a patient at his clinic in Püttlingen, a small town in Germany's Saarland region. Although Germany has a largely private health care system, patients pay nothing out-of-pocket when they come to see him.

Health & Safety

Lessons from Germany to help solve the U.S. medical debt crisis

4:41pm December 16, 2022

by Noam Levey

What would a world without medical debt look like? In Germany's former coal-mining region medical debt is almost unknown, despite economic challenges and health problems. Here's why.

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Many hospitals are now partnering with financing companies to offer payment plans when patients and their families can't afford their bills. The catch: the plans can come with interest that significantly increases a patient's debt.

How banks and hospitals are cashing in when patients can't pay for health care

5:00am November 17, 2022

Some credit cards advertised by hospitals lure in patients with rosy promises of convenient, low-interest payments on big bills. But interest rates soar if you can't quickly pay off the loan.

Diagnosed with cancer five years ago, Monica Reed of Knoxville, Tennessee, was left with nearly $10,000 in medical bills she couldn't pay. Medical debt is more prevalent among the Black community in Knoxville, than among whites.

Health & Safety

In Knoxville, the burden of medical debt reinforces a long history of segregation

6:46pm October 27, 2022

by Noam Levey

Black communities in the U.S. suffer disproportionately from health care debt. The reasons go back to segregation and a history of racist policies that have limited Black wealth.

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A youth mental health crisis and a shortage of therapists and other care providers who take insurance are pushing many U.S. families into financial ruin. But it's rarely acknowledged as medical debt.

Health & Safety

Paying for mental health care leaves families in debt and isolated

2:31pm October 19, 2022

by Yuki Noguchi

A youth mental health crisis and a shortage of therapists and other care providers who take insurance are pushing many U.S. families into financial ruin. But it's rarely acknowledged as medical debt.

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Penelope Wingard of Charlotte, N.C., has survived breast cancer, a brain aneurysm and surgery on both eyes. For the past eight years, she's also been battling tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt.

Medical debt ruined her credit. 'It's like you're being punished for being sick'

5:00am October 06, 2022

by Aneri Pattani

New policies to keep medical bills from sinking credit ratings sound good but will likely fall short for many hit hardest by debt — especially Black Americans in the South, such as Penelope Wingard.

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Aerial view of downtown Fort Worth, Texas. Some hospitals in Texas and around the U.S. are seeing high profits, even as their bills force patients into debt. Of the nation's 20 most populous counties, none has a higher concentration of medical debt than Tarrant County, home to Fort Worth.

Health & Safety

Some hospitals rake in high profits while their patients are loaded with medical debt

5:01am September 28, 2022

by Noam Levey

Across the U.S., many hospitals have become wealthy, even as their bills force patients to make gut-wrenching sacrifices. This pattern is especially stark for health care systems in Dallas-Fort Worth.

After years of carrying medical debt from the premature birth of her daughter, Terri Logan recently discovered a nonprofit called RIP Medical Debt had paid off her bills.

This group's wiped out $6.7 billion in medical debt, and it's just getting started

6:47am August 15, 2022

by Yuki Noguchi

Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt buys up unpaid hospital bills plaguing low-income patients and frees them from having to pay.

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Lucille Brooks, a retiree who lives in Pittsford, New York, was sued in 2020 for nearly $8,000 by a nursing home that had taken care of her brother. The nursing home dropped the case after she showed she had no control over his money or authority to make

Health & Safety

Nursing homes are suing friends and family to collect on patients' bills

4:43pm July 28, 2022

by Noam Levey

Debt lawsuits — a byproduct of America's medical debt crisis — can ensnare not only patients but also those who help sick and older people be admitted to nursing homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.