- More than 50,000 New Yorkers have been sued for medical debt over the past five years- Nationally, nearly 1 in 10 adults (9%) – or roughly 23 million Americans – owe medical debt, a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found- That includes 11 million who owe more than $2,000 and 3 million people who owe more than $10,000.More than 50,000 New Yorkers have been sued for medical debt over the past five years, and nearly half of American adults struggle to afford health care costs, according to statistics provided by the governor’s office.Investigation: As COVID raged in New York hospitals, executives pocketed $73M in bonusesWhile most hospitals do not sue their patients, a significant minority do sue their patients for relatively small amounts, state lawmakers noted in pushing for the ban on liens and wage garnishments.“These cases do little to stabilize a hospital's finances, but can have devastating financial consequences for the patient,” lawmakers added.Previously, two hospitals in 2021 ended the practice of imposing home liens in response to USA TODAY Network New York questions about the issue."