This story is part of an ongoing investigation from KHN and NPR into medical debt. Penelope Wingard is tough. She has survived breast cancer, a brain aneurysm, and surgery on both eyes. But saving her life has come at a steep cost. Wingard — who goes by “Penny” — is now free from cancer. But for the past eight years, she has been battling something that has felt just as tough as a chronic illness: medical debt. Symptoms include daily bills in the mail and harassing calls from collectors. And her credit score has taken a hit. She has resigned herself to living with the ramifications of medical …