12/5/2023 0 Comments Kaiser sick note![]() ![]() I covered mayors and state legislatures and, ultimately, Congress. We got a hint of the dangers of this during the pandemic, as Americans who distrusted the medical system proved easy prey for misinformation about vaccines and other public health measures, with sometimes fatal consequences. If nothing else, this should be a flashing red light: the simmering resentment of growing numbers of patients who feel victimized by this system. That our health care system would do this to people might be reason enough for hospital executives, insurance CEOs, and senior physicians to stop the blame game and look in the mirror. In our project on medical debt with NPR, we documented cancer patients forced to hold off debt collectors while fighting off nausea and other toxic side effects of chemotherapy older workers whose retirement savings were obliterated 30-somethings unable to buy a home because their credit was ruined by health care debt new mothers forced to take on extra work parents unable to buy Christmas gifts for their children and seniors who cut back on food because of medical debt. They rarely talk seriously about what they could do to relieve the financial burdens they create that drive tens of millions of Americans into debt.Īnd so, the suffering of patients deepens. The upshot is that each of these medical industries hunkers down and, pleading its own suffering, looks out for its own interests. Insurers blame providers for obscene prices. Hospitals and doctors blame the government for underpaying them and blame insurers for selling plans with unaffordable deductibles. ![]() I’ve met countless compassionate physicians, nurses, and others who see firsthand the toll that debt is taking on their patients.īut I’ve seen a lot more denial and finger-pointing by health care leaders. Many caring people who work in health care understand this. That’s about half the rate among people without such debt. ![]() Just 15% of people with health care debt said they have a lot of trust that providers have patients’ best interests in mind. This is borne out by polling we did with our colleagues at KFF as part of our investigation of medical debt. Many Americans say they simply no longer trust their medical providers. Subscribe to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. And they’re disgusted by the collection notices, the threatening phone calls, and the appointments they can’t get because they owe money. They’re tired of shocking medical bills they didn’t expect and can’t afford. My father was a physician who never hesitated to get up in the middle of the night and drive to the hospital to operate on a sick child in his care.īut as a journalist covering health care in America over the past 15 years, I’ve seen patients’ faith shaken. Medical providers ignore this at their peril - and at a high risk to Americans’ health.ĭoctors and hospitals have long held an exalted position in American life, retaining public confidence even as Americans have steadily lost trust in other institutions such as government, law enforcement, and the media. Many have revealed a deep and disturbing disillusionment with our health care system. Some of my conversations with patients have been heartbreaking. They are among the 100 million people in America whom we found have been driven into debt by medical and dental bills. Reporting on medical debt over the past two years, I’ve spent hundreds of hours on the telephone, in the living rooms, and at the kitchen tables of patients like Day, Curley, and Boller. The experience offered a stark lesson, he said: “Don’t trust the system.” “This is a place that’s supposed to be looking after you.” “I feel like the hospital is a predator,” Day said. ![]() Read Moreįor Cory Day, it was a $1,000 fee he was charged at an emergency room outside Los Angeles, even though he only checked in and then left before being seen. “Diagnosis: Debt” is a reporting partnership between KFF Health News and NPR exploring the scale, impact, and causes of medical debt in America. ![]()
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