Penny Wingard, 58, of Charlotte, North Carolina, worries she won’t ever get out from under her medical debt despite new policies that are supposed to prevent medical debt from harming people’s credit scores.
Category: Diagnosis: Debt
Few Places Have More Medical Debt Than Dallas-Fort Worth, but Hospitals There Are Thriving
Some hospitals notch big profits while patients are pushed into debt by skyrocketing medical prices and high deductibles, a KHN analysis finds.
Haunted for 13 Years by Debt From Childbirth, Then Rescued by a Nonprofit
Terri Logan, 42, Spartanburg, South Carolina Approximate Medical Debt: $1,400, now $0 Medical Issue: Premature childbirth What Happened: Two months ahead of her due date with her second daughter, Terri Logan felt weighed down by stress. She was a high school math teacher in Union City, Georgia, and was ending her relationship with the baby’s […]
Sleepless Nights Over Her Children’s Future as Debts Pile Up
Jeni Rae Peters, 44, Rapid City, South Dakota Approximate Medical Debt: More than $30,000 Medical Issue: Breast cancer What Happened: Jeni Rae Peters’ budget has always been tight. But Peters, a single mom and mental health counselor, has worked to provide opportunities for her children, including two girls she adopted and a succession of foster […]
Her Brother Landed in a Nursing Home. She Was Sued Over His Bill.
Lucille Brooks, 74, Pittsford, New York Approximate Medical Debt: $8,000 Medical Issue: None. She was billed for her brother’s care. What Happened: Lucille Brooks was stunned to discover a nursing home in Monroe County, New York, was suing her. She had never been a patient there. Nor had her husband. “I thought this was crazy,” […]
After Wiping Out $6.7 Billion in Medical Debt, This Nonprofit Is Just Getting Started
Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt buys up unpaid hospital bills plaguing low-income patients and frees them from having to pay.
Watch: How Nursing Homes Put Friends and Families on the Hook for Residents’ Debts
In pursuit of unpaid bills, nursing homes across Rochester, New York, have been suing relatives and friends of their residents. This CBS News report, done in partnership with a KHN-NPR investigation, takes a look at the practice and tells the stories of some of the people affected.
Nursing Homes Are Suing the Friends and Family of Residents to Collect Debts
Debt lawsuits — long 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.
Listen: Why Medical Debt Touches Every Corner of America
KHN senior correspondent Noam N. Levey joined WBEZ and Wisconsin Public Radio to talk about medical debt and health care costs in the U.S.
In America, Cancer Patients Endure Debt on Top of Disease
Medical breakthroughs mean cancer is less likely to kill, but survival can come at an extraordinary cost as patients drain savings, declare bankruptcy, or lose their homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.
