Thread by @KFFHealthNews

“The biggest crime you can commit in America is being sick.”

📝: @laura_ungar, KHN/@NPR #BillofTheMonth khn.org/news/heartbrea…

Matthew Fentress was just 25 when he passed out while stuffing cannolis as a cook for a senior living community six years ago. Doctors diagnosed him with viral cardiomyopathy, #heartdisease that developed after a bout of the flu. #BilloftheMonth

📸: @MegVogelphoto

Three years later, the Kentucky man’s condition had worsened, and doctors placed him in a medically induced coma and inserted a pacemaker and defibrillator. #BilloftheMonth

He said hospital officials assured him he wouldn’t be on the hook for more than $7,000, a huge stretch on his $30,000 annual salary.

Then the bill came...

Fentress owed a balance of $10,092.13 for cardiology, echocardiography and family medicine visits on various dates in 2019 and 2020. #BilloftheMonth

📸: @MegVogelphoto

A recent survey by the @commonwealthfnd found that just over a quarter of adults 19 to 64 who reported medical bill problems or debt were unable to pay for basic necessities like rent or food sometime in the past two years.

The survey found, 43% of U.S. adults ages 19 to 64 were inadequately insured.

“I don’t have hope for a financially stable future,” Fentress said. “It shouldn’t be such a struggle.” npr.org/sections/healt…