Both parties agree medical debt is a burden for many Americans and are working to pass laws that offer relief

Solving Americans' medical debt problems has
bipartisan support. (Photo by K. Sikkema, Unsplash)

Lawmakers from both parties agree too many Americans are saddled with medical debt and the problem requires bipartisan intervention. "Democrats and Republicans in statehouses around the country have been quietly working together to tackle the nation’s medical debt crisis," writes Noam N. Levey of KFF Health News. Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, a conservative Republican, told Levey, "Regardless of their party, regardless of their background . . . any significant medical procedure can place people into bankruptcy. This is a real issue."

Some states have passed laws banning unpaid medical bills from consumer credit reports and "restrict medical providers from placing liens on patients’ homes," Levey writes. A significant medical debt can cause a financial spiral for people who end up "draining savings, taking out second mortgages, or cutting back on food and other essentials."

States are trying different approaches to address the problem. "When Arizona consumer advocates put a measure on the ballot in 2022 to cap interest rates on medical debt, 72% of voters backed the initiative."

Legislative efforts to bar medical debts from consumer reports or to limit a hospital's collection activity vary from state to state. "When Colorado last year became the first state to bar medical debt from residents’ credit reports, just one Republican lawmaker backed the measure," Levey writes. "New Mexico state Sen. Steve Neville, a Republican who backed legislation to restrict aggressive collections against low-income patients in that state, said he was simply being pragmatic."