<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - Billions in Arizonans' medical debt to be erased"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Former U.S. Surgeon General <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Adams" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">Jerome Adams</a> ignited a firestorm on social media last month when he <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/JeromeAdamsMD/status/1761375417351430595" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">posted</a> a copy of his nearly $5,000 emergency room hospital bill<em> −after</em> insurance paid its portion.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">"Recently had an ER visit for dehydration while out of town," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Received some labs and 3 IV bags. Here's the bill- AFTER insurance," Adam noted, showing the hefty tab.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">“The situation I was in is one far too many Americans find themselves in,” Adams said in an interview with USA TODAY. “There’s no reason for such inflated costs.”</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Adams flagged a major financial stressor for many Americans. Medical bills are the No. 1 reason people file for bankruptcy, accounting for nearly 67% of them a year, according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6366487/" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">2019 study</a> published in the American Journal of Public Health. An analysis of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sipp/data/datasets.html" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">2020 Census Bureau data</a> by health policy research firm KFF found <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-health-care-debt-survey-main-findings/" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">U.S. adults owe at least $195 billion in medical debt</a>.</p><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em_tw" data-g-r="lazy" data-gl-method="loadTwitter" aria-label="X Embed" data-v-id="1761375417351430595"/><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_mt">What happened to Dr. Jerome Adams?</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Adams said he flew to Arizona in January for a business trip, hiked during the day, went to dinner and felt light-headed. Friends called an ambulance that took him to the nearest emergency room at the Mayo Clinic.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">He received IV fluid during the ride, and by the time he arrived at the hospital, felt much better. A test confirmed dehydration.</p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">“Then, I get caught in the system,” Adams said. Over the next 18 hours, he received more IV fluids, lab tests, a chest X-ray to rule out a heart attack and observation...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2024/03/08/inflated-medical-bill-fight-tips-jerome-adams/72874616007/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
