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Health and Wealth

Why Americans are drowning in medical debt

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Health and Wealth

Lawmakers and hospitals are divided on providing free care for tax breaks

by David Brancaccio and Alex Schroeder
May 3, 2024
Nonprofit hospitals say legislative efforts that require them to provide more free care could hurt the people they are intended to help.
Nonprofit hospitals in the U.S. provided $16 billion in charity care in 2020, according to health policy research group KFF, while receiving $28 billion in tax breaks.
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Health and Wealth

Women pay more than men for health care. That's leading some of them to declare bankruptcy.

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer
Apr 8, 2024
Even when pregnancy-related costs are stripped out, women still pay more than men.
Female employees spend about $266 a year more out-of-pocket for health care than their male colleagues, a Deloitte study finds.
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Health and Wealth

Has legislation to stop surprise medical bills worked?

by David Brancaccio and Alex Schroeder
Apr 1, 2024
Yes and no. Patients have avoided millions of surprise bills, but a plan to cut wider health care spending has seen mixed results.
"Ultimately, this law is protecting more people from the kinds of medical debt that you're covering on the show, but that protection may come at a price: higher insurance premiums for millions," said Dan Gorenstein, executive editor at Tradeoffs.
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Health and Wealth

How medical debt can exacerbate pain and suffering

by David Brancaccio , Meredith Garretson and Kelly Silvera
Mar 29, 2024
As part of a live event, we break down the medical debts that some Americans owe and the shame, guilt and uncertainty that can come with it.
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Health and Wealth

How can we build a better health care system?

by David Brancaccio , Meredith Garretson and Kelly Silvera
Mar 28, 2024
Experts say 3 million people in the U.S. have more than $10,000 in medical debt each.
"Whatever you do, don't put [medical debt] on a credit card," said RIP Medical Debt's Allison Sesso. "Once you put it on a credit card, it's consumer debt — it's not medical debt anymore."
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Health and Wealth

Health and Wealth: Why Americans are drowning in medical debt

by David Brancaccio , Meredith Garretson and Kelly Silvera
Mar 27, 2024
Almost a third of all working adults in the United States are carrying some kind of medical debt — that’s about 15% of all U.S. households.
Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States and affects almost a third of working Americans.
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