Medical debt erased for 1,257 Kentuckians. Now let’s improve patient protections.

Dental students, working as volunteers, attend to patients at a Remote Area Medical mobile dental and medical clinic on Oct. 7, 2023 in Grundy, Virginia. More than 1,000 people were expected to seek free dental, medical and vision care at the two-day event. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

As health care costs continue to rise, so does anxiety about being able to afford medical treatment. Even those with good insurance can find themselves stuck with a surprise medical bill or mounting out-of-pocket expenses.

The reality is that many Kentucky families are just one medical emergency away from a financial crisis. The specter of medical debt adds massive uncertainty and stress to what are already some of the most uncertain and stressful moments in our lives. No one chooses to get sick or hurt, and no one chooses to rack up the significant expenses it can take to get well.

Even with the right coverage, prices are rarely predictable, leaving people already in pain and distress to figure out what they owe (and how to pay for it) after the fact.

Kentucky ranks 10th in the nation for residents with medical debt. It’s the single most common cause of personal bankruptcy, even as it differs greatly from other forms of debt.

These aren’t costs we choose to incur. We’re often opted in against our will, by an illness or accident.

The financial consequences of a health issue can be just as devastating, forcing working families to delay or avoid medical care, cut back on basic necessities or become trapped in a vicious cycle of loans and credit cards.

The data shows that medical debt disproportionately affects people of color, those with serious health conditions like cancer, and people with disabilities. But make no mistake, this is a crisis that can affect anyone, at any time.

Medical debt should be treated as a symptom of our complicated, often confusing health care system rather than an indicator of a person’s creditworthiness. That’s why we applaud the new rule announced by the Biden administration that will remove all medical debt from consumer credit scores.

But while we support these advances at the federal level, we must continue to advocate for policy change on the state level.

While some states have their own community benefit standards in place, with the expectation that hospitals will provide a certain amount of charity care and financial assistance, the strength of these standards varies widely due to a lack of statutory clarity and intent, accountability in implementation or both.

Kentucky-tailored patient protections would improve access to nondiscriminatory financial assistance, ensure nonprofit hospitals actually utilize their community benefit payment assistance programs, and limit aggressive billing and collections practices that place liens on homes and garnish wages of people who are already living paycheck to paycheck.

Kentuckians deserve stronger cost transparency rules and patient protections that address the root causes of medical debt and prevent it from happening in the first place.

But we also recognize that many Kentucky families can’t afford to wait. That’s why we launched a medical debt forgiveness campaign during Kentucky Voices for Health’s annual giving drive. We were overwhelmed by the response from our coalition and other community members who chipped in to help alleviate the burden of medical debt and bring a bit of financial stability to Kentuckians in need.

Together, we have purchased and erased over $1.2 million of medical debt in Kentucky. This relief has gone out to 1,257 Kentuckians across 113 counties.

Thanks to our campaign partner Undue Medical Debt, we were able to purchase delinquent debt for pennies on the dollar. But unlike collection agencies, once we purchased the debt, it was immediately forgiven. Notices have already been mailed out to Kentuckians who had their debt abolished as part of the campaign — no tax burden, no strings attached.

We believe no Kentucky family should have to choose between seeking health care and making ends meet. That’s why our forgiveness campaign must be met with real change to reform the broken system of medical debt.

We urge Kentucky’s state and federal lawmakers to find legislative solutions that reduce health care costs for working families and provide financial protections for consumers that prevent medical debt in the first place.

We all have reason to support moves that lessen the impact of medical debt, protect the financial health of Kentucky’s families and its workforce, and increase health care access for everyone.

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