Baffling. Frustrating. Frightening. What It’s Like To Be Sued Over Medical Debt.
Patients’ experiences encapsulate breakdowns in a healthcare system that traps patients in debt. The industry’s key players blame one another.
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As Ranks of Uninsured Grow, Minnesota’s Hospitals Are Among Least Charitable in Nation
A Minnesota Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation of hospital data and charity care programs shows most Minnesota hospitals provide little financial aid to patients and often make assistance difficult to get.
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In Connecticut, Doctors and Dentists Are More Likely Than Hospitals To Sue Patients
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In Connecticut, Doctors Now Sue Patients Most Over Medical Bills, Surpassing Hospitals
Physicians, dentists, and other nonhospital providers account for more than 80% of health care debt collection cases in Connecticut courts, a CT Mirror-KFF Health News investigation finds.
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Trump’s Idea for Health Accounts Has Been Tried. Millions of Patients Have Ended Up in Debt.
Republican calls to give Americans cash instead of health insurance subsidies double down on a decades-old strategy of moving people into high-deductible plans with health savings accounts.
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Listen: New Federal Guidelines Could Weaken Consumer Protections Against Medical Debt
The Trump administration has taken another step to weaken protections for Americans with medical debt, issuing rules that undercut state efforts to keep these debts off consumers’ credit reports.
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Trump Team Takes Aim at State Laws Shielding Consumers’ Credit Scores From Medical Debt
Reversing guidance from the Biden administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concludes that states cannot bar medical debt from their residents’ credit reports.
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‘Cancer Doesn’t Care’: Volunteer Lobbyists Push Past Washington’s Ugly Politics
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‘Cancer Doesn’t Care’: Citizen Lobbyists Unite To Push Past Washington’s Ugly Politics
Despite a poisonous political climate, hundreds of volunteer advocates put partisan differences aside and pressed Congress to help people with cancer.
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As Trump Punts on Medical Debt, Battle Over Patient Protections Moves to States
Some states are enacting medical debt laws as the Trump administration pulls back federal protections. Elsewhere, industry opposition has derailed legislation.
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Diagnosis: Debt
Trump Voters Wanted Relief From Medical Bills. For Millions, the Bills Are About To Get Bigger.
Moves by the Trump administration to pare back Medicaid, rescind medical debt rules, and loosen vaccine requirements threaten to increase medical bills for millions of Americans.
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In Arizona County That Backed Trump, Conflicted Feelings About Cutting Medicaid
Medicaid plays a vital role in many rural communities that favored President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. But residents still seem open to Republican proposals to cut perceived waste in the program.
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Blockbuster Deal Will Wipe Out $30 Billion in Medical Debt. Even Backers Say It’s Not Enough.
Undue Medical Debt is retiring unpaid medical bills for 20 million people. The debt trading company that owned them is leaving the market.
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Nursing Homes and the AMA, Once Medicaid Defenders, Hang Back as GOP Mulls Big Cuts
The American Medical Association and the leading nursing home trade group both are lobbying Republicans in Congress on other priorities.
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Trump Vowed To End Surprise Medical Bills. The Office Working on That Just Got Slashed.
The Trump administration’s first round of sweeping staff cuts to federal agencies eliminated dozens of positions at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which is tasked with implementing the No Surprises Act.
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Republicans Once Wanted Government out of Health Care. Trump Voters See It Differently.
Frustrated by high health care prices, many who backed President Donald Trump support strong government actions to protect patients. It’s unclear whether GOP leaders will listen.
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Biden Administration Bars Medical Debt From Credit Scores
The move, which comes less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office, represents a challenge to the new administration.
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News Analysis
Rage Has Long Shadowed American Health Care. It’s Rarely Produced Big Change.
The outpouring of anger at health insurers following the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson continues a cycle of rage that dates back decades.
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With Trump on the Way, Advocates Look to States To Pick Up Medical Debt Fight
Patient and consumer advocates fear a new Trump administration will scale back federal efforts to expand financial protections for patients and shield them from debt.
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Voters Fret High Medical Bills Are Being Ignored by Presidential Rivals
Health care hasn’t figured prominently on the campaign trail this fall. These voters wish it would.
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