Tens of millions of U.S. residents owe medical debt, and it is not uncommon for collections agencies to pursue aggressive tactics to recoup the balance.

American Health Line rounds up the latest health care news in the states.

Caitlin Hillyard was petting a cat in her neighborhood when the cat bit her wrist, which resulted in difficulties seeking treatment and more than $26,000 in health care bills.

The number of U.S. patients who were billed for out-of-network care received at in-network hospitals rose between 2010 and 2016—and the costs of those bills increased, as well—according to a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Experts say the common brand-name products used for IV iron infusions in many cases are medically interchangeable—yet providers increasingly are administering the most costly products, leaving patients facing unexpectedly high bills.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's top Republican and Democratic members on Wednesday said the full Senate would not take up the committee's legislative package to address so-called "surprise" medical bills before Congress' August recess.

At the state and federal levels, lawmakers are considering bills to address so-called "surprise" out-of-network medical bills, but their efforts largely ignore ground ambulances, which are one of the main sources of such bills.

When Sovereign Valentine learned he was in kidney failure and needed immediate dialysis, he and his wife, a physician at their local hospital, searched for an in-network facility to no avail. With no other options, Sovereign began dialysis at an out-of-network facility—and ended up with a $524,600.17 bill.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's legislative package to address out-of-network "surprise" medical bills would reduce average national provider payment rates by as much as 20%—with much of the effect due to a reduction in in-network payment rates, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is seeking the 2020 Democratic nomination for president, today unveiled a health reform plan that aims to build on and protect the Affordable Care Act by providing Americans with the option to enroll in a public health plan and expanding eligibility for subsidies to purchase exchange plans.