"We didn't have any hope left": Medical debt crippling U.S. families

Last edited Tue Nov 22, 2022, 10:53 AM - Edit history (1)

Jim and Cindy Powers' medical debt struggles began in 2004, when Cindy required emergency surgery to repair a life-threatening abdominal obstruction. In the hospital, she says, she contracted MRSA, a potentially deadly bacterial infection. That led to 18 more surgeries over a span of five years.

If that wasn't stressful enough, bills began piling up.

"That's when the phone started ringing off the hook," Jim told CBS News, who in partnership with Kaiser Health News looked at the devastating costs of medical debt to families.

Despite having insurance, the couple now owed nearly $50,000 in medical bills. The couple, who had three children, could not afford to pay it, and filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Then, they found out there was more bad news.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/health-care-debt-us-bankruptcy/