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WEKU
WEKU
Noam Levey

'We're not doing that': A Black couple won't crowdfund to pay medical debt

When Kristie Fields was undergoing treatment for breast cancer nine years ago, a nurse suggested she go on the local news and ask for help with her medical bills. Fields says she and her husband quickly dismissed the idea. (Sonja Foster/KFF Health News)

When Kristie Fields was undergoing treatment for breast cancer nine years ago, she got some unsolicited advice at the hospital: Share your story on the local news, a nurse told her. Viewers would surely send money.

Fields, a Navy veteran and former shipyard worker, was 37 and had four kids at home. The food processing plant where her husband worked had just closed. And Fields' medical care had left the family thousands of dollars in debt.

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