The numbers that inform the story of medical financial obligation in the U.S. are shocking: Around 100 million Americans have healthcare financial obligation, and together they owe a minimum of $140 billion. And research study recommends this financial obligation can have striking repercussions on individuals’s monetary, physical, and psychological health.

In this episode of the “Tradeoffs” podcast, Dan Gorenstein discusses the discomfort and possible services to medical financial obligation with KHN senior reporter Noam N. Levey and UCLA scientist Wes Yin.

“About a 3rd of individuals who have medical financial obligation owe less than $1,000,” Levey stated. “But a quarter of individuals owe, I believe, more than $5,000. Majority state they’ve needed to make a tough sacrifice, like consuming all their cost savings, relocating with loved ones, or losing their houses. I do not believe it’s embellishment to state that there’s a stunning quantity of suffering out there.”