Diagnosis of debt: Patients stricken with soaring medical debt

Medical debt is at an all-time high in the United States, affecting about one in four adults under 65. Americans are being hit by a combination of higher health costs, unemployment and cutbacks in employer-provided insurance. To cope, financially strapped patients are turning to payday loans and credit cards to pay off their medical bills. Hospitals, meanwhile, are also squeezed trying to collect millions of dollars in bad debt. Some turn to collection agencies or, in a few cases, sell off patients’ debt on the markets, Wall Street-style. But hospitals’ collection rates aren’t what you might expect. So far, the government isn’t doing much to help. California has regulations in place to help protect some patients from medical debt, but many consider them weak on enforcement.  And while the federal health care law could bring some relief, implementation is still a few years away – if the measure survives at all.