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Tens of millions of Americans are making painful sacrifices due to health care debt

More than a 100 million people in the U.S. are burdened by medical debt. An investigation by NPR and Kaiser Health shows the painful sacrifices many are making to pay their medical and dental bills.

Tens of millions of Americans are making painful sacrifices due to health care debt

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Sick and struggling to pay, 100 million people in the U.S. live with medical debt
Juweek Adolphe/KHN and NPR

Shots - Health News

Sick and struggling to pay, 100 million people in the U.S. live with medical debt

Kaiser Health News

The U.S. health system now produces debt on a mass scale, a new investigation shows. Patients face gut-wrenching sacrifices.

Sick and struggling to pay, 100 million people in the U.S. live with medical debt

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Kids with autism struggle to adapt to adulthood. One doctor is trying to change that

Dr. Mai Pham is an internist and former senior Medicare and Medicaid official with degrees from Harvard and Johns Hopkins universities, but she still struggled to find care for her son with autism, Alex Roodman. Alyssa Schukar for KHN hide caption

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Alyssa Schukar for KHN

Shots - Health News

Kids with autism struggle to adapt to adulthood. One doctor is trying to change that

Kaiser Health News

Dr. Mai Pham left a corporate career to spark change in a system that is failing millions of Americans with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Kids with autism struggle to adapt to adulthood. One doctor is trying to change that

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The doctor didn't show up, but the hospital ER still billed $1,012

Dhaval Bhatt plays Monopoly with his children, Hridaya (left) and Martand, at their home in St. Peters, Missouri. Martand's mother took him to a children's hospital in April after he burned his hand, and the bill for the emergency room visit was more than $1,000 — even though the child was never seen by a doctor. Whitney Curtis for Kaiser Health News hide caption

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Whitney Curtis for Kaiser Health News

Shots - Health News

The doctor didn't show up, but the hospital ER still billed $1,012

Kaiser Health News

A toddler burned his hand on the stove. The pediatrician told mom over the phone to take him to the emergency room. But after a long wait for a doctor who never showed, they left. Then the bill came.

The doctor didn't show up, but the hospital ER still billed $1,012

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Biden's Broader Vision For Medicaid Could Include Inmates, Immigrants, New Mothers

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, leads some of the Biden administration's efforts to expand Medicaid access. Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag hide caption

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Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag

Shots - Health News

Biden's Broader Vision For Medicaid Could Include Inmates, Immigrants, New Mothers

Kaiser Health News

With record levels of people relying on Medicaid for health care, the Biden administration is making moves to expand it even farther.

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