The United States is the only advanced nation that allows its sick citizens to be saddled with ruinous medical debt.
According to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, Americans owe more than $195 billion in medical debt; 3 million people owe $10,000 or more. Such debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcies. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, medical debt accounts for more than half of all debt on consumer credit reports.
According to Kaiser, one-in-seven people with medical debt have been denied care because of it. And studies have shown that as many half of people saddled with such debt defer or avoid treatment for fear of being rejected or adding to their debt.
According to Kaiser, more than 1 million Pennsylvanians have medical debt.
In Pennsylvania, 91% of hospitals are tax-exempt nonprofits. They are required to provide assistance to people who can’t afford medical care. They also are supposed to notify people in advance of specific costs and payment options.
Three Democratic state representatives who also are medical professionals — nurses Bridget Kosierowski of Lackawanna County and Tarik Khan of Philadelphia, and physician Arvind Venkat of Pittsburgh — have introduced a bill to mitigate existing debt and diminish it going forward.
The bill emulates Pittsburgh’s RIP Medical Debt Program, which uses $1 million in city and donated money to buy bundled medical debt from debt collectors at steep discounts. The city estimates that the $1 million will retire more than $115 million of 24,000 city residents’ medical debts. The state bill would use $15 million to retire an estimated $1.15 billion in debt.
Meanwhile, health care inflation has increased by more than 31% since 2015.
The bill requires providers to ensure that patients are aware of programs for free or discounted care, and would make it easier for patients to enter those programs. Also, it would outlaw predatory practices employed by some debt collectors.
Tuesday, the House Health Committee approved the bill with bipartisan support, which it also should receive in the full House and Senate so that fewer people will be penalized for obtaining the care that they need.
— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre via TNS
