Here are five study findings and legislative actions regarding medical debt Becker's has reported on since June 5:
1. North Carolina lawmakers consider laws to ease patient medical debt
North Carolina lawmakers are debating two bills meant to "de-weaponize" medical debt, Yahoo News reported July 17. One bill involves expanding Medicaid, the other would offer several new reinforcements to protect patients financially — including free care for either one patient earning less than $21,780 per year or a patient in a family of four earning less than $55,000 per year.
2. How Colorado's new hospital price transparency law will work
When Colorado's price transparency law goes into effect Aug. 10, it won't be enforced by the state, the Denver Post reported June 20. Instead, the law puts the responsibility on patients to sue if hospitals are not following it. The law prohibits hospitals that are not following federal price transparency laws from using debt collectors, filing negative credit reports against patients and obtaining state court judgments for outstanding debts.
3. 100 million Americans have healthcare debt, report says
More than 100 millions Americans, including 41 percent of adults, have medical or dental debt, according to a June 16 report from NPR and Kaiser Health News. Fifty-six percent of Americans with debt owe $2,500 or less. Twenty-four percent owe $5,000 or more.
4. The 15 states with the best and worst medical debt collection protections
Maryland has the best medical debt protection policies, and Tennessee has the worst, according to the "Medical Debt Policy Scorecard" from the Innovation for Justice.
5. Older adults' rising debt may be affecting their health
A growing number of adults 55 and older have debt that could adversely affect their health, the New York Times reported June 5. Urban Institute researchers found that older adults fare worse on a range of health measures, including depression, inability to work and impaired ability to handle such everyday activities as bathing and dressing.