outrageous bill

Medical breakthroughs mean cancer is less likely to kill, but survival can come at an extraordinary cost as patients drain savings, declare bankruptcy or lose their homes, a KHN-NPR investigation finds.

A gynecologist in New Mexico tested the 60-year-old grandmother for various sexually transmitted infections without her knowledge, she says. Her share of the lab fee was more than $3,000.

The snake struck a 9-year-old hiker at dusk on a nature trail in Illinois. Expensive antivenin and a helicopter ride to the hospital led to big bills that struck her parents a few weeks later.