“For more than a decade, some Southern states have resisted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, even though data suggest it could help their residents. Today, the large majority of uninsured Americans who would gain coverage under Medicaid expansion — and who would benefit from affordable access to care — live in non-expansion states in the South.

But the politics are shifting. North Carolina expanded Medicaid in December, after a years-long lobbying campaign by the state’s Democratic governor and hospital industry persuaded the Republican-controlled legislature to pass a bill. “

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In 2019, emergency medicine physician and historian Luke Messac was working as a medical resident. He had heard about hospitals suing their own patients over unpaid medical bills, so he decided to investigate whether the hospitals where he worked were doing the same.

It turns out they were.

“The care I was delivering to patients was resulting in them showing up in court, or having their wages garnished, or signing up for a payment plan that they would be paying for the better part of a decade,” said Messac.

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“In 2016, Emily Peters became, as she puts it, a “statistic in the maternal health mortality crisis.” While giving birth to her daughter, she had an amniotic fluid embolism, a rare and life-threatening complication that landed her in the intensive care unit.”

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“Last year, Jennifer Reisz’s college-age daughter, Megan, was kicked in the chest multiple times by the family’s horse. Megan fell to the ground, unable to move or speak. Though she was alone, her Apple Watch detected her distress and called 911.

She was taken to a hospital in Clovis, a city in Fresno County, near where the Reisz family lives. But the severity of Megan’s injuries — four broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung — prompted doctors to transport her 12 miles by ambulance to the Level I trauma center at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.

While Megan was still recovering at home from her injuries, she received a $2,400 bill from the ambulance company — after the family’s health plan had paid nearly $2,200.”

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When the time came for Ginny Erickson-Ebben’s elderly mother to move into a senior living facility in 2018, the entire family agreed the best place was near Erickson-Ebben. The weather was warm where she lived in Texas, and Erickson-Ebben lived just a mile down the road from the facility. She also had the time to help with her mother’s care. While happily and willingly taking on those duties, she didn’t realize what a big job she’d signed up for. 

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