Colorado Public Radio: Shortly after Vera Azuka Idam arrived in the US, she wasn’t feeling well and went to the doctor to see what was wrong. They poked and prodded, asked lots of questions. They sent her home without a diagnosis.

“And then two weeks later, I got a bill for $17,000. I almost died. I’m telling you!” she said.

A gossip magazine journalist in her native Nigeria, she wasn’t planning on paying a bill of that size. After making some calls, she was able to get the bill reduced to a more manageable $5,000.

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