Note: This article contains mention of miscarriage and still birth.
According to the Texas Tribune and a nationwide survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 100 million people in the US have medical debt. Even more bleak — about one in five people with all forms of debt say they don't think they'll ever be able to pay it off. This creates a problem for those who would rather choose not to seek healthcare so they can avoid a huge bill, like the ones received by these 16 patients:
1. This person says they were charged $1,406 for a splinter removal:
2. This person was charged about $300 for a crisis evaluation from a mental health center:
3. Here are all the bills this person received after accidentally getting their hand crushed under a car and having to have two fingers amputated. (Spoiler: They equal over $1.1 million of debt):
4. This person said a hospital billed their insurance nearly $23,000 for labs and IV meds:
5. Here are all the bills this dad received after going into cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, he recently retired and his Medicare card was still being processed at the time:
6. Here's the $24,000 bill this woman received following a miscarriage:
7. Here's the $1.9 million bill this person received after having their aorta repaired:
8. This person said they were surprised to see how high their bill was after getting injured while on active duty:
9. This person says they were charged about $1,400 for an inch of stitches:
10. This person said they went to a hospital and was told they were just having a panic attack – and then they got this $832 bill for it:
11. This person was charged about $850 for a tetanus shot at a hospital:
12. Here's a $63 bill parents randomly received an entire year after their son's birth:
13. This person said they went to a hospital, had blood drawn and tested, and was sent home after being told they had an unidentifiable virus. And this is their $1,553 bill:
14. This is a payment breakdown showing what a family owes after having a stillbirth:
15. This person said they were charged $2,883 for a three-hour hospital stay:
16. And finally – and perhaps more egregiously – this person's insurance only covered 1/4 of their overall cost, leaving them with a $17,000 hospital bill:
