Ariane and Samantha Buck of Arizona have had their lives upended by $50,000 in medical debt. They rely on family to provide Christmas gifts for their three children. But Ariane Buck was still surprised when his doctor refused to see him because he owed a balance of less than $100 to the practice. “That’s just not right,” Buck told KHN’s Noam N. Levey. “Everyone should at least be able to get to a doctor when they feel ill.”
Levey discussed the Bucks’ predicament with Mary Louise Kelly on NPR’s “All Things Considered” on June 22.
The Bucks are among tens of millions of Americans who have crippling medical debt, according to an ongoing KHN and NPR investigation, “Diagnosis: Debt.” Levey discussed the investigation with A Martínez on NPR’s “Morning Edition” on June 16.