Anne Palm visits with her parents, Donald and Florence Reiners, at the Waters of Excelsior, an assisted living facility outside Minneapolis. Donald Reiners has since had to move away from his wife to a less expensive facility.
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TIM GRUBER/NEW YORK TIMES
ALISHA COLYER APPLIED FOR ST. JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER’S CHARITY CARE AROUND 2007 WHEN HER HUSBAND WENT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM FOR PNEUMONIA. BUT THE ISSUE WAS NEVER SETTLED AND YEARS LATER A COLLECTION OF MEDICAL BILLS HELPED PUSH THE COUPLE INTO BANKRUPTCY./DAN DELONG FOR KAISER HEALTH NEWS
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 67 percent of people worry about unexpected medical bills, more than they dread insurance deductibles, prescription drug costs or paying for the basics in life.