Lawmakers in over a dozen states and the U.S. Congress are tackling medical debt, which has become a leading cause of personal bankruptcy.
FILE - The gold dome of the Colorado State Capitol on March 23, 2023, in Denver. In Colorado, House lawmakers approved a measure Wednesday, April 12, that would lower the maximum interest rate for medical debt to 3%, require greater transparency in costs of treatment and prohibit debt collection during an appeals process. – Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations.
In Colorado, House lawmakers approved a measure Wednesday that would lower the maximum interest rate for medical debt to 3%, require greater transparency in costs of treatment and prohibit debt collection during an appeals process. Powers’ family ended up owing $250,000 for the 19 life-saving abdominal surgeries. They declared bankruptcy in 2009, then the bank foreclosed on their home.
Castaneda, who was born with a congenital heart defect, found herself $200,000 in debt when she was 23 and had to have surgery. The debt tanked her credit score and, she said, forced her to rely on her emotionally abusive husband's credit.
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States confront medical debt that's bankrupting millionsLawmakers in over a dozen states and the U.S. Congress are tackling medical debt, which has become a leading cause of personal bankruptcy
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States confront medical debt that's bankrupting millionsLawmakers in over a dozen states and the U.S. Congress are tackling medical debt, which has become a leading cause of personal bankruptcy. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports an estimated 100 million Americans have amassed nearly $200 billion in collective medical debt — almost the size of Greece’s economy. The financial burden has pushed millions of Americans into financial uncertainty. The flurry of bills — in states including Colorado, New York and Florida — would create medical debt relief programs, protect certain personal property from collections, lower interest rates or keep medical debt from tanking credit scores.
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