Medical Bills Can Wreck Credit, Even When Paid Off
Many Americans are finding small bills from years ago are now hindering chances to buy homes and refinance mortgages
2012-03-10
Carla K. Johnson AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO (AP) -- Mike and Laura Park thought their credit record was spotless. The Texas couple wanted to take advantage of low interest rates, so they put their house on the market and talked to a lender about a mortgage on a bigger home in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. Read the complete article
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The mild winter that has given many Northern farmers a break from shoveling and a welcome chance to catch up on maintenance could lead to a tough spring as many pests that would normally freeze have not. 
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- Washington state opened a public auction online Thursday of its state-run liquor stores, beginning the process of privatizing a booze industry the state has tightly controlled since the end of Prohibition. 
WASHINGTON -- Health disparities are creating economic burdens for families, communities and the nation’s health care system. Across the country, infant mortality and chronic diseases continue to affect people of color at rates far higher than those for whites.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The doctor passed out prescriptions for drugs like Xanax and OxyContin, Vicodin and Adderall at a rate of 25 per day for three years, with only cursory patient examinations and a minimum of questions, authorities said. 
MIAMI BEACH, Florida (AP) -- A decade after Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez helped Latin music explode into the mainstream, Latina chefs are doing the same for food. 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Thursday defeated a GOP effort to roll back President Barack Obama's policy on contraception insurance coverage in the first vote on an issue that raised questions of religious and women's rights and riled Americans in this volatile election year. 
CHICAGO (AP) -- More Americans are turning to the emergency room for routine dental problems - a choice that often costs 10 times more than preventive care and offers far fewer treatment options than a dentist's office, according to an analysis of government data and dental research.