When I was a medical student in Boston, my father — who lived in California — had a heart attack. He was hospitalized for a few days and received a stent in one of his heart’s arteries. The procedure went smoothly, and he was discharged without complications.
Four days later, the medical bills arrived. The total? $126,000 — four times my father’s annual income. “If the heart attack did not kill me, this will,” he told me.
My father’s experience is far from unique. Approximately 79 million Americans struggle with medical bills or paying off medical debt. This burden disproportionately falls on lower-income earners, racial minorities, parents and those in poor health. When faced with medical debt, households cut back on…
