HLTH 350 Week 4 Article Review 2 Example

Reviewed by Laura Hargrove, MPH · Liberty University · Updated

This HLTH 350 Week 4 sample article review examines a national study of medical debt drawn from the credit reports of nearly 40 million Americans. By mid-2020, nearly one American in five, 17.8% by the study's estimate, carried a medical bill in collections, and the average owed across the population was $429, and the burden was heaviest in the South and in low-income communities. New medical debt also fell much faster in states that expanded Medicaid, from $330 to $175 a year on average, than in states that did not. Read against McKenzie, Pinger and Kotecki's chapter on health care financing, the findings lead the review to concrete suggestions for reducing medical debt, from expanding coverage to stronger hospital financial assistance policies. Liberty University HLTH 350 sets this second review, a BS in Public Health requirement, in midterm week.

CourseHLTH 350 Introduction to Public and Community Health (HLTH350)
Module/Week4
AssignmentArticle Review 2
Paper typeArticle review
Lengthabout 465 words, 2 double-spaced pages plus title page and references. Course guide: an individual APA paper of 450 to 500 words that summarizes an assigned peer-reviewed article's major points and suggests how to address its problem, citing 1 supporting source
FormatAPA 7 student paper
Points80
SchoolLiberty University Online
ProgramBS in Public Health
Where it sitsModule/Week 4 in Liberty's published HLTH 350 course guide; current sections can differ
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for HLTH 350 Week 4

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Owing for Being Sick: A Review of National Evidence on Medical Debt and the Effect of Medicaid Expansion

 

[Student Name]

School of Health Sciences, Liberty University

HLTH 350: Introduction to Public and Community Health

Article Review 2

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

 

The article reviewed is a real peer-reviewed study chosen for this sample; the article embedded in the course may differ.

Why this part earns its pointsThe introduction names the problem in human terms before the data, which keeps the review focused on health.
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Owing for Being Sick: A Review of National Evidence on Medical Debt and the Effect of Medicaid Expansion

Introduction

For many Americans, the cost of getting sick does not end when they leave the hospital. Unpaid medical bills are sent to collection agencies and appear on credit reports, where they can affect housing, jobs and loans for years. Kluender et al. (2021) measured how much medical debt Americans carry and whether expanding Medicaid reduced it. The question matters for public health because people with debt from past care often avoid seeking care again, even when they need it.

Why this part earns its pointsThe summary reports the data and the main findings with numbers.
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Summary

Drawing on a random tenth of the country's credit files from 2009 to 2020, which together cover nearly 40 million people, the authors counted unpaid medical bills that had been sent to collectors. By June 2020, about 17.8% of people had such a debt on their report, and 13.0% had acquired new medical debt during the prior year. The average amount was $429 per person. Medical debt was highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast, and it was concentrated in low-income zip codes. When the authors compared states that expanded Medicaid in 2014 with states that did not, they found that the average amount of new medical debt each year fell from $330 to $175 in expansion states but only from $613 to $550 in nonexpansion states. In expansion states, the gap between the poorest and richest zip codes narrowed by $145, while in nonexpansion states it widened by $218.

Why this part earns its pointsThe suggestions follow from the findings and from the chapter's account of health care financing.
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Suggestions to Address the Problem

McKenzie et al. (2012) explain that Americans pay for health care through a mix of private insurance, government programs and out-of-pocket spending, and that people without adequate coverage carry the heaviest out-of-pocket burden. The study's findings point to three responses. First, the states that have not expanded Medicaid could do so, since the evidence shows expansion lowered medical debt where it was adopted. Second, nonprofit hospitals could be required to screen patients for financial assistance before any bill is sent to collections, since many people with medical debt likely qualified for help they never received. Collection practices can be severe; In Virginia, Paturzo et al. (2021) counted roughly 30,760 hospital lawsuits against patients in a single year, and lawsuits fell 59% after the practice was publicized. Third, credit reporting agencies and lawmakers could limit how medical debt appears on credit reports, so that an illness does not damage a family's financial future. A bill for a broken arm should not decide whether a family can rent an apartment two years later.

Conclusion

Medical debt affects nearly one in five Americans and falls hardest on those with the least, especially in the South, where poor zip codes carried far more debt than wealthy ones. Because debt can discourage people from seeking care they need, reducing it is both a financial and a public health goal, and expanding coverage is the most direct way to do so.

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References

Kluender, R., Mahoney, N., Wong, F., & Yin, W. (2021). Medical debt in the US, 2009-2020. JAMA, 326(3), 250-256. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.8694

McKenzie, J. F., Pinger, R. R., & Kotecki, J. E. (2012). An introduction to community health (7th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Paturzo, J. G. R., Hashim, F., Dun, C., Boctor, M. J., Bruhn, W. E., Walsh, C., Bai, G., & Makary, M. A. (2021). Trends in hospital lawsuits filed against patients for unpaid bills following published research about this activity. JAMA Network Open, 4(8), e2121926. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.21926

What the HLTH 350 Week 4 instructions ask

Students hand in Article Review 2 before the fourth module/week of HLTH 350 closes Monday night, a week built on the fourteenth chapter of the McKenzie text, a presentation and an article, which also brings the Midterm Exam on everything read so far. Nothing about the format changes from the first review: each student independently boils the embedded article down to its essentials and proposes fixes for the issue it exposes, written in APA format in 12-point font at 450 to 500 words and supported by one source, the peer-reviewed article embedded in the course. Because the chapter explains how health care is paid for, through insurance, government programs and out-of-pocket spending, a review of a study on the financial burden of illness applies the chapter directly.

How this HLTH 350 Week 4 example is built

First, the sample states the underlying concern, that illness can leave Americans with debts that follow them for years. A summary reports the study's data source, credit reports from a nationally representative panel, and its main findings on how common medical debt is, how much people owe, where it is concentrated and how Medicaid expansion affected it. A suggestions section draws on the textbook's account of health care financing to recommend three responses: extending Medicaid in the remaining states, requiring nonprofit hospitals to screen patients for financial assistance before sending bills to collections and limiting how medical debt can affect credit. A brief conclusion ties the evidence to the course's focus on access.

HLTH 350 Week 4 grading rubric: where the points go

The second HLTH 350 article review is assessed on the same standards as the first: an accurate summary of major points, practical suggestions to address the problem, the chapter brought into the argument, a length inside the required range and APA style that includes the supporting citation. Instructors expect improvement from the first review, especially more precise summaries and suggestions that follow directly from the findings rather than general calls for reform. Reviews that explain a study's data in plain words and connect financial findings to health, for example how debt discourages people from seeking care, show the reasoning the course values. Because the midterm is due the same week, early drafting helps.

HLTH 350 Week 4 help: mistakes that cost points

Note the article's data source, its main measures and its three or four most important findings before writing. Summarize them in plain language, including at least one number. Use chapter 14 to explain the part of the health care financing system the article examines, such as insurance coverage or out-of-pocket costs. Then propose two or three suggestions that respond to the findings, such as a policy change or a program, and explain why each would help. Keep the paper within 450 to 500 words and cite the article and any other source in APA format. The midterm covers Modules/Weeks 1 through 4, so review earlier chapters as well.

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HLTH 350 Week 4 questions, answered

What is HLTH 350 Article Review 2?

Worth 80 points and due in the fourth module/week, it condenses an embedded journal article into 450 to 500 words and proposes ways to tackle the problem the article exposes.

Where can I find a free HLTH 350 Week 4 sample paper?

This page offers a complete HLTH 350 Week 4 article review of a national study of medical debt and how Medicaid expansion affected it.

How common is medical debt in the United States?

In June 2020, an estimated 17.8% of Americans had medical debt in collections on their credit reports, with an average of $429 per person.

Did Medicaid expansion reduce medical debt?

Yes: from 2013 to 2020, average new medical debt fell from $330 to $175 in expansion states but only from $613 to $550 in states that did not expand.

What exam is due with HLTH 350 Article Review 2?

The Midterm Exam shares that Monday deadline; it has forty open-book multiple-choice and true-false questions on the first four modules/weeks and a two-hour limit.

Use it as a model, or ask for your own

This paper is an original model written by our desk for study. It is not a submitted student paper and not an official Liberty University document. Read it for structure and reasoning, then write your own to the instructions in your Canvas course. If you want a version built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

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