Life And Debt: Getting The Hospital Bill

Life And Debt: Getting The Hospital Bill

By NPR

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported last year that there's around $88 billion of medical debt in collections, and about 43 million Americans have medical debt on their credit report.

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – three major credit reporting companies in the U.S. – have eased how much medical debt impacts someone's credit score. The companies no longer include medical debt that is paid off or less than a year old on a report.

But a medical bill can be plenty stressful before it goes to a debt collector. People often turn to crowdfunding sources like GoFundMe to help pay those costs when they get them.

We continue our series with Bloomberg News with a discussion about medical debt in the U.S. and how we deal with it.

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