Listen: Medical Bills Upended Her Life and Her Credit Score
Penny Wingard, 58, of Charlotte, North Carolina, worries she won鈥檛 ever get out from under her medical debt despite new policies that are supposed to prevent medical debt from harming people鈥檚 credit scores.
Medical Debt Sunk Her Credit. New Changes From the Credit Reporting Agencies Won鈥檛 Help.
New policies to prevent unpaid medical bills from harming people鈥檚 credit scores are on the way. But the concessions made by top credit reporting companies may fall short for those with the largest debt 鈥 especially Black Americans in the South.
The July launch of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline was celebrated by many mental health providers and advocates, but it triggered concerns, too, from people who say using the service could lead to increased law enforcement involvement or forced hospitalization.
Medical Bills Can Shatter Lives. North Carolina May Act to 鈥楧e-Weaponize鈥 That Debt.
Medical debt is most prevalent in the Southeast, where states have not expanded Medicaid and have few consumer protection laws. Now, North Carolina is considering two bills that could change that, making the state a leader in protecting patients from high medical bills.
Damaged Credit Delays the Dream of Buying a Home
Joe Pitzo was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018. After surgery, the bills topped $350,000. 鈥淭his just took a major toll on my credit,鈥 Joe said. 鈥淚t went down to next to nothing.鈥
Upended: How Medical Debt Changed Their Lives
People talk about the sacrifices they made when health care forced them into debt.
Patients Seek Mental Health Care From Their Doctor but Find Health Plans Standing in the Way
Despite a consensus that patients should be able to get mental health care from primary care doctors, insurance policies and financial incentives may not support that.
National Addiction Treatment Locator Has Outdated Data and Other Critical Flaws
Three years after a government site launched to connect Americans to treatment, finding addiction care is still a struggle.
Never-Ending Costs: When Resolved Medical Bills Keep Popping Up
A bill one family considered paid wrongfully resurfaced, resurrecting painful memories. It鈥檚 a scenario that鈥檚 not uncommon but grievously unsettling.
$11M for North Carolina Work-Based Rehab Raises Concerns
As overdoses surge and opioid settlement dollars flow, funding to North Carolina rehab foreshadows national discussion about the best approaches to treatment.
Con m谩s muertes por sobredosis, defensores claman por una naloxona de venta libre
La administraci贸n Biden ha destinado $30 millones a programas de reducci贸n de da帽os por adicciones. Pero defensores dicen que la principal barrera es que la naloxona sigue siendo de venta bajo receta.
With Overdose Deaths Surging, Advocates on the Ground Push for Over-the-Counter Naloxone
Harm-reduction groups say that requiring a doctor to sign off on their orders of the overdose reversal drug is one of the biggest barriers they face in obtaining the lifesaving medication.
What Happens After a Campus Suicide Is a Form of Prevention, Too
The scientific term is 鈥減ostvention,鈥 and it informs how to navigate the emotional challenges that follow such a tragedy.
As Overdose Deaths Soar, DEA-Wary Pharmacies Shy From Dispensing Addiction Medication
A West Virginia pharmacy cleared a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation. But it shut down anyway, highlighting how the agency鈥檚 policies reduce the availability of buprenorphine, an important tool for recovery from opioid addiction.
6 Months to Live or Die: How Long Should an Alcoholic Liver Disease Patient Wait for a Transplant?
In a practice dating to the 1980s, many hospitals require people with alcohol-related liver disease to complete a period of sobriety before they can be added to the waiting list for a liver. But this thinking may be changing.
驴Un test de covid m谩s caro que un Tesla? En Texas es posible
A lo largo de la pandemia, abundaron las historias de precios sorprendentemente altos para las pruebas de covid. Pero 茅ste supera a todos.
A Covid Test Costing More Than a Tesla? It Happened in Texas.
A patient from Dallas got a PCR test in a free-standing suburban emergency room. The out-of-network charge: $54,000.
Pandemia revela una creciente crisis de suicidios en comunidades de color
Entrevistas con una docena de investigadores del suicidio, datos recopilados de todos los estados, y una revisi贸n de d茅cadas de investigaci贸n revelaron que el suicidio es una crisis creciente para las comunidades de color, que ya estaba impactando antes de la pandemia, y que se ha agravado desde entonces.
From Uber Rides to Patient Advocates: What It Takes to Increase ER Addiction Treatment
Despite widespread consensus on the importance of addiction treatment in the ER, many hospitals fail to screen for substance use, offer medications to treat opioid use disorder or connect patients to follow-up care. But some are working to change that.
Pandemic Unveils Growing Suicide Crisis for Communities of Color
Suicides have risen among Black, Hispanic and other communities of color during covid. But the rates were already escalating before the pandemic struck.
