The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released proposed federal regulations that would prevent unpaid medical bills from being counted on consumers’ credit reports.
Millions of new parents in the U.S. are swamped by medical debt during and after pregnancy, forcing many to cut back on food, clothing, and other essentials.
New York City joined other localities this week in pledging to buy up and forgive residents' unpaid medical bills. The trend started in Cook County, Ill., and is spreading around the country.
U.S. hospitals face growing scrutiny over aggressive debt collection tactics. At one community hospital, few patients get financial aid when they can't afford to pay. Many more are taken to court.
This week on Georgia in Play, host Leah Fleming looks at Georgia's impending redistricting. Plus, conversations with Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Hidden Brain's Shankar Vedantam. We'll also look at a church's medical debt forgiveness ministry, the new Michelin Guide to Atlanta, and top bookstores around the state.
Credit rating agencies have removed small unpaid medical bills from consumer credit, and some people are seeing their credit scores improve, a new study finds.
The suits pursued patients and their families, sometimes putting liens on homes. "I know my house will never be mine. It is going to be the hospital's," said Donna Lindabury, 70, who lost her case.
One North Carolina family's six-figure medical bill came from a state hospital. The attorney general, who is running for governor and says he's against high medical costs, tried to collect the debt.
Kristie Fields, a cancer patient in Virginia was urged to go public to seek help for her medical bills. But she worried about feeding hurtful stereotypes.
After emergency gallbladder surgery, a Tennessee woman said she spent months without a permanent mailing address and never got a bill from the hospital. She ended up in court a few years later.
