Americans are drowning in medical debt. Here’s how one family found a lifeline.

Updated on: November 13, 2026 / 12:28 PM EST / CBS News

Coy Smith and his wife were getting up to 16 phone calls a day, all to discuss the same topic — how they planned to pay off the thousands of dollars in medical bills their family had racked up after facing a series of serious healthcare issues.

By 2023, the family was more than $30,000 in the hole, including credit card debt they had taken on to help pay their medical bills.

"It's very stressful knowing that every time the phone rings, you have to pick it up and talk to someone who says you owe them thousands of dollars for something you couldn't help," Coy, 32, a Cypress, Texas, resident, told CBS News.

The phone is also ringing off the hook for millions of other people facing overdue healthcare bills. Roughly 40% of Americans are saddled with debt for medical care not covered by insurance, treatment for complex medical conditions, and hospitalization costs for serious injuries or illnesses, according to health policy and research firm KFF.

Those debts are often financially debilitating, with high healthcare costs topping the list of financial worries for U.S. voters, a recent…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/moneywatch/