Medical debt nearly pushed this family into homelessness. Millions more are at risk

Kayce Atencio, who had a heart attack when he was 19, was unable to rent an apartment for years because of bad credit attributed in part to thousands of dollars of medical debt. "It always felt like I just couldn't get a leg up," says Atencio, one of millions of Americans whose access to housing is threatened by medical debt. (Rachel Woolf for KFF Health News)

DENVER — Kayce Atencio used to be haunted by a thought while working at a homeless shelter in downtown Denver. "It could have been me," said Atencio, 30, who lives in a small apartment with his son and daughter not far from the shelter.

It nearly was. Atencio and his children for years slept on friends' couches or stayed with family, unable to rent an apartment because of poor credit. A big reason, he said, was medical debt.