"I feel like I will be in debt the rest of my life": Medical bills are weighing down Americans

Americans are drowning in medical debt. From 2009 to 2020, medical bills were the largest source of debt in the U.S., with a record $140 billion owed last year, according to a recent study from the Journal of the American Medical Association. The record accounts only for the debt that has been sent to collections. 

Neale Mahoney, a Stanford economics professor and lead author of the study, said medical bills are often higher for people living in a dozen states that chose not to expand eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.  "The fact that the health care system, which is supposed to heal people is creating half the debt in collections in the United States is really something that is quite distressing," he said.