The U.S. health system now produces debt on a mass scale, a new investigation shows.
estimated that collective medical debt totaled at least $195 billion in 2019, larger than the economy of Greece.
Illinois law prohibits billing victims for such tests. But no matter how many times Adams explained the error, the calls kept coming, each forcing her, she said, to relive the worst day of her life. The couple had diligently saved. And they had retiree health insurance through Con Edison. But Sherrie’s surgery led to numerous complications, months in the hospital, and medical bills that passed the $1 million cap on the couple’s health plan.
Nearly half of Americans in households making more than $90,000 a year have incurred health care debt in the past five years, the KFF poll found. In minority communities already struggling with fewer educational and economic opportunities, the debt can be crippling, said Joseph Leitmann-Santa Cruz, chief executive of Capital Area Asset Builders, a nonprofit that provides financial counseling to low-income Washington residents. “It’s like having another arm tied behind their backs,” he said.
The financial strain can slow patients’ recovery and even increase their chances of death, cancer researchers have found. The problem is so pervasive that even many physicians and business leaders concede debt has become a black mark on American health care. Additionally, the law did not stop the growth of high-deductible plans, which have become standard over the past decade. That has forced many Americans to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets before their coverage kicks in.
The widespread burden of medical debt has sparked new interest from elected officials, regulators, and industry leaders.they would remove medical debts under $500 and those that had been repaid from consumer credit reports.a new CFPB crackdown on debt collectors and an initiative by the Department of Health and Human Services to gather more information on how hospitals provide financial aid.
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