Appearing in The New York Times on October 23, 2026, Ann Carrns talks to Chi Chi Wu, director of consumer reporting and data advocacy at NCLC, about how many Americans, whose budgets have already been stretched by rising prices of basics like groceries, gasoline and home heating, are having trouble keeping up with health care costs.
Ms. Wu recommended against putting medical debt on credit cards, if you can avoid it. You’ll accrue high interest if you don’t pay it off right away and may owe late fees or have damaged credit if you fall behind. And because the bills aren’t readily identifiable as medical debt once they’re part of your card balance, they become ineligible for protections that exclude the debt from credit reporting.
Ms. Wu also advised avoiding special medical credit cards. They often feature “deferred” interest, which results in high interest rates if you don’t pay off the balance within a certain amount of time.
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