“I’ve been battling this for over 20 years,” Belk, 68, said of his medical debt. The burden of medical debt has contributed to financial anxiety among voters and has become an issue in the 2024 presidential campaign. Guill, who has multiple sclerosis, lives in Aiden, North Carolina, a rural community just south of Greenville. She volunteers with a nonprofit called Down Home North Carolina to help her neighbors gain access to Medicaid. “We have a ton of people with medical debt in the state because our insurance plans didn’t cover our medical bills,” she said.

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Persons: “ I’ve, ” Belk, KFF, ”, Berneta Haynes, Terry Belk's, Mike Belleme, “, it’s, don’t, Cynthia Fisher, they’ve, PatientRightsAdvocate.org, Darcy Guill, Darcy Guill Guill, Harold Miller Organizations: National Consumer Law Center, U.S, NBC, Atrium Health, Health, American, of Public Health, Nonprofit, Affordable, The Commonwealth Fund, Urban Institute, Center for Healthcare Locations: South Dakota, Mississippi, North Carolina, American, Charlotte, N.C, United States, U.S, Aiden , North Carolina, Greenville