- "Doctors and hospitals ignore this at their peril."
- "Many Americans say they simply no longer trust their medical providers. This is borne out by polling we did with our colleagues at KFF as part of our investigation of medical debt. Just 15% of people with health care debt said they have a lot of trust that providers have patients’ best interests in mind. That’s about half the rate among people without such debt.
- "Many caring people who work in health care understand this. I’ve met countless compassionate physicians, nurses, and others who see firsthand the toll that debt is taking on their patients.
- "But I’ve seen a lot more denial and finger-pointing by health care leaders. Hospitals and doctors blame the government for underpaying them and blame insurers for selling plans with unaffordable deductibles. Insurers blame providers for obscene prices. Everyone blames dr-g companies."
- "In our project on medical debt with NPR, we documented cancer patients forced to hold off debt collectors while fighting off nausea and other toxic side effects of chemotherapy; older workers whose retirement savings were obliterated; 30-somethings unable to buy a home because their credit was ruined by health care debt; new mothers forced to take on extra work; parents unable to buy Christmas gifts for their children; and seniors who cut back on food because of medical debt."
- "Absent action, patients’ trust is sure to erode further. And without the trust of the people it serves, this American health care system cannot long endure.
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/medical-debt-anger-doctors-hospitals/