Posted on Oct 28, 2022
Why Black Americans are more likely to be saddled with medical debt
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/10/27/ [login to see] /medical-debt-racial-inequities
When Dr. H.M. Green opened his new medical office building on East Vine Avenue in 1922, Black Knoxville residents could be seen only in the basement of Knoxville General Hospital. They were barred from the city's other three medical centers.
Green, one of America's leading Black physicians, spent his life working to end health inequities like this. He installed an X-ray machine, an operating room, and a private infirmary in his building to serve Black patients. On the first floor was a pharmacy.
Today the Green Medical Arts Building has been replaced by a tangle of freeways that were built after the city's Black business district was bulldozed in a midcentury urban renewal project.
But the health gaps Green labored to narrow still divide this community. And if segregation is less apparent in medical offices today, its legacy lives on in crushing medical debt that disproportionately burdens this city's Black community.
In and around Knoxville, residents of predominantly Black neighborhoods are more than twice as likely as those in largely white neighborhoods to owe money for medical bills, Urban Institute credit bureau data shows — it's one of the widest racial disparities in the country.
When Dr. H.M. Green opened his new medical office building on East Vine Avenue in 1922, Black Knoxville residents could be seen only in the basement of Knoxville General Hospital. They were barred from the city's other three medical centers.
Green, one of America's leading Black physicians, spent his life working to end health inequities like this. He installed an X-ray machine, an operating room, and a private infirmary in his building to serve Black patients. On the first floor was a pharmacy.
Today the Green Medical Arts Building has been replaced by a tangle of freeways that were built after the city's Black business district was bulldozed in a midcentury urban renewal project.
But the health gaps Green labored to narrow still divide this community. And if segregation is less apparent in medical offices today, its legacy lives on in crushing medical debt that disproportionately burdens this city's Black community.
In and around Knoxville, residents of predominantly Black neighborhoods are more than twice as likely as those in largely white neighborhoods to owe money for medical bills, Urban Institute credit bureau data shows — it's one of the widest racial disparities in the country.
Why Black Americans are more likely to be saddled with medical debt
Posted from npr.org
Medical
Health
Knoxville
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."If Black patients go into debt, they face yet another challenge: a medical debt collections industry that targets Black debtors more aggressively than their white counterparts, particularly for smaller debts.
About 6 in 10 Black adults with medical debts under $2,500 say they or someone in their household has been contacted by a collection agency in the past five years, the KFF poll found. By contrast, only about 4 in 10 white adults with similar debt said the same.
At the courthouse in downtown Knoxville, the dockets are filled with debt collection lawsuits filed by some of the region's largest hospitals: Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, and Parkwest Medical Center.
That discourages many Black patients from seeking care even if they need it, said Cherokee Health's Derrick Folsom, who helps patients enroll in health insurance. "Somebody knows somebody who's getting sued for medical bills," Folsom said. "So they stay away from medical centers."
Reflecting on her experience with medical debt, Reed said she tries to stay upbeat. "I don't sweat the small stuff," she said. "What am I going to do against this hospital?"
But, she said, she has realized one thing about the nation's health care system: "It's not designed for poor people."
..."If Black patients go into debt, they face yet another challenge: a medical debt collections industry that targets Black debtors more aggressively than their white counterparts, particularly for smaller debts.
About 6 in 10 Black adults with medical debts under $2,500 say they or someone in their household has been contacted by a collection agency in the past five years, the KFF poll found. By contrast, only about 4 in 10 white adults with similar debt said the same.
At the courthouse in downtown Knoxville, the dockets are filled with debt collection lawsuits filed by some of the region's largest hospitals: Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, and Parkwest Medical Center.
That discourages many Black patients from seeking care even if they need it, said Cherokee Health's Derrick Folsom, who helps patients enroll in health insurance. "Somebody knows somebody who's getting sued for medical bills," Folsom said. "So they stay away from medical centers."
Reflecting on her experience with medical debt, Reed said she tries to stay upbeat. "I don't sweat the small stuff," she said. "What am I going to do against this hospital?"
But, she said, she has realized one thing about the nation's health care system: "It's not designed for poor people."
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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Interesting for sure! Why are blacks seem to get the short end of the stick?
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