美国国家公共电台 NPR--Unpaid medical bills are still harming people's credit scores despite new policies

Unpaid¹ medical bills are still harming people's credit scores despite new policies

Transcript²

Medical debt can ruin people's credit rating — making it hard to get a loan, mortgage or credit card. People of color are most impacted by this issue and programs designed to help are falling short.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

This year, three national credit agencies announced new policies to prevent unpaid medical bills from hurting people's credit scores. Those policies are helping³ millions of people but may fail some people who are hit the hardest, including a North Carolina woman who met reporter Aneri Pattani as part of an investigation⁴ into medical debt from NPR and Kaiser Health News.

ANERI PATTANI: Penelope Wingard is tough. She survived breast cancer, a brain aneurysm and, later, surgery on both eyes. But saving her life has come at a steep cost.

PENELOPE WINGARD: After the radiation, that's when the debt and the bills started really coming in because I wasn't able to pay the doctors, and I was uninsured.

PATTANI: Penelope - she goes by Penny - lives in North Carolina, which hasn't expanded Medicaid. That means she doesn't qualify for public insurance. She's now free from cancer, but for the past eight years, Penny's been battling something else that's felt just as tough as a chronic⁵ illness - medical debt. Symptoms include daily bills in the mail, harassing⁶ calls from collectors, and her credit score has taken a hit. When she applies for jobs, it shows up as a red flag on background checks, and she thinks it makes employers question her character.

WINGARD: And it's like you're being punished for being sick. And it's not your fault, and no one should feel like they're being punished.

PATTANI: The debt also makes it difficult for Penny to get medical care. One of her surgeons and her original oncologist stopped seeing her because she had outstanding bills. She's managed to find other specialists who are OK letting the bills pile up. But how long will their goodwill⁷ last?

WINGARD: I just pray, especially with Dr. Graham and Dr. Grayson, they don't stop seeing me 'cause the bills keep adding up.

PATTANI: The new policies announced this year are meant to help people like Penny. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion said they'd take certain types of medical debt off credit reports. So if you were late paying a doctor or a hospital bill, that'll no longer hurt you. And if you have a medical bill that's less than $500, even if you haven't paid it, that won't show up on the report, either. People still owe money for those bills, but the idea is to erase⁸ the black marks on their credit history so they can do things like get a car loan or qualify for an apartment.

But a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found these policies are not reaching people who have the highest amounts of debt. These are generally Black Americans and people living in the South. That's Penny Wingard. She's 58, Black, living in Charlotte. And the policy changes won't affect most of her bills.

WINGARD: They're not less than 500. I wish they were. If they were less than 500, I would be able to pay it myself.

PATTANI: Penny's resourceful. She's found clinics that work on sliding-scale fees, a pharmacy⁹ program that reduces co-pays and various nonprofits that help cover health care costs. She works temporary jobs and drives for Lyft. But that doesn't come with benefits, and she can't afford private insurance. To get an idea of what it would take to make a dent¹⁰ in Penny's debt, I asked her to look up her credit report. We hopped¹¹ on a laptop together and requested one online.

So we're going to click here to get your free credit report.

At the top of the page. It showed a total debt of nearly $10,000, then as we scrolled¹² down, a series of notifications, each one a ding on Penny's credit. Those dings went on for five pages.

WINGARD: Go to the next one. Collection, collection, collection, collection, collection. And I promise you, all of them are medical bills.

PATTANI: She rushed to clarify for me. It was like she was ashamed and didn't want me to think her bills were from shopping sprees. And then we realized something else - the report only went back two years. It wasn't even showing all of Penny's medical debt.

WINGARD: Yes. See; it doesn't go back.

PATTANI: It doesn't go back.

WINGARD: Two years, it's 10,000. So imagine it goes all the way back. It's a lot more than that. I'm sure it's - well, something I don't even want to think about.

PATTANI: It was overwhelming. Penny asked to take a break and step outside. Later, she told me we never should have looked up the report. She was better off not knowing how bad her situation was. Penny doesn't think she'll ever be able to pay off those bills. And if she can't pay them, they'll continue dragging down her credit score, making it impossible to qualify for loans, loans that she desperately¹³ needs to repair her broken fridge and stove and to fix a leak in her ceiling. To get by so far, she's had to borrow from family.

WINGARD: And I think it does take a toll¹⁴ on my family, and I think it takes a toll on me to have to ask so much of them, you know? It makes you feel worthless, like you can't do anything.

PATTANI: Medical debt is wearing Penny down. The latest policy change didn't help her, but she's still hopeful that the nation will find a fix.

INSKEEP: Aneri Pattani with our partner Kaiser Health News.

1 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

6 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

7 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

8 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

9 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

10 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

11 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

12 scrolled   

adj.具有涡卷装饰的v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的过去式和过去分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Wherever the drop target can possibly be scrolled offscreen, the program needs to auto-scroll. 无论拖放的目标对象是否在屏幕之外，程序都需要自动滚动。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• If It'still is then you've not scrolled up enough lines. 如果还在说明你向上滚动的行数不够。 来自互联网

13 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

14 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。