I'm Aisha Roscoe and this is a Sunday story.

Across the country people lose their homes,

empty their retirement accounts, some struggle to feed

and clothe their families, all because they face crushing medical bills.

For more than a year, NPR and our partner, KFF Health News,

have been investigating medical debt.

The project has exposed the enormous scale of this problem.

More than 100 million people in the US are saddled with some kind of health

care death, often forcing them to make heart-wrenching sacrifices. People like Penelope

Wingard from Charlotte, North Carolina.

And it's like you're being punished for being sick.

And it's not your fault.

And no one should feel like they're being punished.

Today, NPR Health Correspondent Yuikouchi and Noam Levy from KFF Health News

are here to talk about the project, the people they've met during the investigation, and the impact

their reporting is having. So welcome to you both.

Hi. Thank you. So when we're talking about medical debt, what exactly do we mean?

Are we talking about medical bills that people don't pay

or can't afford to pay or just any medical bill.

What is medical debt?

Well, so historically I think people thought medical debt

is a medical bill that someone couldn't pay.

...