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Title: Getting Care But Paying the Price: How Medical Debt Leaves Many in Massachusetts Facing Tough Choices
Copyright Date: Feb. 2004
Pages: 36
Authors:Carol Pryor, The Access Project; Deborah Gurewich, Brandeis University
Description:This report is based on a survey of 342 clients of two community health centers. It shows that users of the
Massachusetts
health care system can accumulate debt that causes them to forgo further care, damages their credit and creates housing and employment problems. Forty-one percent of the 342 respondents had medical debt, from a variety of medical providers. The survey also reveals ramifications of medical debt beyond the health care system, such as bad credit affecting ability to rent a home or secure a job, having to increase work hours to make ends meet, or simply having difficulty paying other essential expenses.
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Topics: Medical Debt
