by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press
June 29, 2026
In 2018, postpartum eclampsia kept Jessica McIntyre in the hospital for a week after the birth of her son. McIntyre, a school social worker in Beaufort County, had health insurance, but her plan required her to pay 20% of the cost of her stay. In total, she owed thousands of dollars in medical debt to Vidant Medical Center (now ECU Health).
However, as a new mom, those hospital bills were the last thing on her mind, McIntyre told Carolina Public Press. Eventually, she fell behind on her monthly payments and stopped altogether. That was, until she contacted the hospital some time later to ask about making another payment.
Vidant told McIntyre that it had deemed her debt unrecoverable…