🧵 More than 100 million Americans, including 41% of adults, are plagued by a health care system that drives people into debt to pay for their care.
An investigation by @KHNews and NPR shows the problem is far more pervasive than previously reported. npr.org/sections/healt…
To calculate the true extent and burden of this debt, the KHN-NPR investigation draws on a nationwide poll conducted by KFF for this project. The survey aimed to capture not just bills patients couldn't pay, but other borrowing used to pay for health care as well. #DiagnosisDebt
A KFF poll found that more than half of U.S. adults reported going into debt because of medical or dental bills in the past five years. A quarter of those with health care debt owe more than $5,000. One in 5 who have any amount of debt believe they will never pay it off.
The burden is forcing families to cut spending on food and other essentials. Millions are being driven from their homes or into bankruptcy, the poll found.
Allyson Ward and her husband loaded up credit cards, borrowed from relatives, and delayed repaying student loans after the premature birth of their twins left them with $80,000 in debt. Ward, a nurse practitioner, took on extra nursing shifts, working days and nights.
For many Americans, debt from medical or dental care may be relatively low. About a third owe less than $1,000, the KFF poll found. Even small debts can take a toll.
Edy Adams, a 31-year-old medical student, was pursued by debt collectors for years for a medical exam she received after she was sexually assaulted.
Police never found the perpetrator. Two years later, she started receiving calls from debt collectors, saying she owed $130.68.
Sherrie Foy, 63, and her husband, Michael, saw their carefully planned retirement upended when Foy's colon had to be removed.
The couple diligently saved money. And they had retiree health insurance through Con Edison. Sherrie's surgery was complicated, she spent months in the hospital, and her medical bills exceeded the $1 million cap on their health plan.
When Foy couldn't pay more than $775,000 she owed the University of Virginia Health System, the medical center sued, a once common practice that the university said it has reined in. The couple declared bankruptcy.
America's debt crisis is driven by a simple reality: Half of U.S. adults don't have the cash to cover an unexpected $500 health care bill. As a result, many simply don't pay. The flood of unpaid bills has made medical debt the most common form of debt on consumer credit records.
🧵Across the United States there are 36 governors' races this year, during a time when major issues such as abortion, guns, and LGBTQ rights are being debated at the state level.
Primary elections are being held today in South Carolina, Nevada, and Maine. npr.org/2022/06/14/110…
It’s been nearly 25 years since South Carolina elected a Democratic governor — and this year’s Democratic contenders aren’t shying away from traditionally blue-state priorities: @NPR’s @AcaciaSquires explains: npr.org/2022/06/14/110…
In Nevada, Trump-endorsed County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who rose to national attention in the aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, has the lead over his closest Republican rival. @KUNRPublicRadio’s Bert Johnson has more: npr.org/2022/06/14/110…
✈️ Air travel is back — and so is the accompanying chaos.
The long security lines, the crowded gates, the jam-packed planes; they're all back. And so too are soaring prices and extra fees.
Here's how to avoid trouble while traveling this summer. 🧵 n.pr/3xOQNBJ
Haven't booked your summer trip yet?
You might be better off delaying your vacation until fall, when air fares will likely come down and there may be more flights to choose from, says travel analyst Henry Harteveldt.
Get a good weather app and look at forecasts ahead of time for the days you're scheduled to travel.
"They have predictions 14 days out, (and) you can get a fairly good idea certainly 7 days out, of what the weather is going to be," says Kathleen Bangs of FlightAware.
🧵Federal prisoners who are deemed to be highly dangerous are sent to a special unit in an Illinois prison. Violence, abuse, and a string of deaths among inmates there have been revealed by NPR and @MarshallProj. npr.org/2022/05/31/110…
The Marshall Project and NPR obtained federal prison data and documents, reviewed criminal and civil court cases, and interviewed dozens of people with knowledge of United States Penitentiary, Thomson. Many men reported being threatened by their cellmates and the staff.
Bobby Everson was nearing the end of his decade-long federal prison sentence, but he feared he wouldn't make it home alive. He was sent to the Special Management Unit in Thomson, Ill. — a program meant for disruptive prisoners, although many do not fit this description.
🧵As details of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, emerge, the debate over stricter gun control laws intensifies.
Take a look at these statistics that provide insight into the gun control debate in the United States. npr.org/2022/05/27/110…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data notes that just over 100 people, on average, are killed by firearms in the U.S. every day. n.pr/3Gpeymw
Sandy Hook Promise, a group founded and led by families of victims of that shooting, estimates that about 12 children die from gun violence each day in the United States.
Gun laws in the country have gone virtually unchanged since that time. n.pr/3z2bCKW