Listen to ‘Tradeoffs’: Medical Debt Delivers ‘A Shocking Amount of Misery’

By Noam N. Levey

March 16, 2023

<br /> <span class="byline">Noam N. Levey</span></p> <p>The numbers that tell the story of medical debt in the U.S. are staggering: Around 100 million Americans have health care debt, and together they owe at least $140 billion. And research suggests this debt can have striking consequences on people’s financial, physical, and mental health.</p> <p>In this episode of the “Tradeoffs” podcast, Dan Gorenstein talks about the pain and possible solutions to medical debt with KHN senior correspondent Noam N. Levey and UCLA researcher Wes Yin. </p> <p>“About a third of people who have medical debt owe less than $1,000,” Levey said. “But a quarter of people owe, I think, more than $5,000. More than half say they’ve had to make a difficult sacrifice, like using up all their savings, moving in with friends and family, or losing their homes. So I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that there’s a shocking amount of misery out there.”</p> <p>
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