A health system charged a woman for a shoulder replacement she didn't need and hadn't received. She didn't receive the care, but she did receive the bill — and some medical records of a stranger.
What would a world without medical debt look like? In Germany's former coal-mining region medical debt is almost unknown, despite economic challenges and health problems. Here's why.
A KHN investigation found when some Medicare Advantage plans got a rare federal audit, they couldn't produce billing records for care they said they'd provided. Some blamed fire, flood — or doctors.
When health bills aren't legible — via large-print, Braille or other adaptive technology — blind patients can't know what they owe, and are too often sent to debt collections, an investigation finds.
Some doctors and medical practices voluntarily give rebates on a bill if an injury occurs during a procedure, while others will not, a medical ethicist says. Here's how patients can respond.
Taxpayers footed the bill for care that should have cost far less, according to records released under the Freedom of Information Act. The U.S. government may charge insurers $650 million as a result.
Some credit cards advertised by hospitals lure in patients with rosy promises of convenient, low-interest payments on big bills. But interest rates soar if you can't quickly pay off the loan.
In American Sirens, writer Kevin Hazzard recounts how a group of Black paramedics in Pittsburgh in the 1970s pioneered and professionalized the modern day ambulance service.
Black communities in the U.S. suffer disproportionately from health care debt. The reasons go back to segregation and a history of racist policies that have limited Black wealth.
A youth mental health crisis and a shortage of therapists and other care providers who take insurance are pushing many U.S. families into financial ruin. But it's rarely acknowledged as medical debt.
New policies to keep medical bills from sinking credit ratings sound good but will likely fall short for many hit hardest by debt — especially Black Americans in the South, such as Penelope Wingard.
Across the U.S., many hospitals have become wealthy, even as their bills force patients to make gut-wrenching sacrifices. This pattern is especially stark for health care systems in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Montana is one of the latest states to suggest many nonprofit hospitals aren't giving back enough in charitable contributions to the community to justify their tax-exempt status.
Even after their babies died, hospital bills kept coming. These parents of fragile, very sick infants faced exorbitant bills — though they had insurance. "The process was just so heartless," one says.
The health care industry is obsessed with consumer satisfaction. But national patient surveys still don't get at an important question: Are hospitals delivering culturally competent care?
