Harris supports cutting medical debt. Supporters of Trump’s “concept” are worried

Patient and consumer advocates expect Kamala Harris to speed up federal efforts to assist people fighting medical debt if she wins next month’s presidential election.

They also see the vice chairman and Democratic nominee as their best hope for maintaining Americans’ access to medical insurance. According to experts, comprehensive protection that limits the patient’s out-of-pocket expenses is the perfect protection against debt.

The Biden administration has expanded financial protections for patients, including a landmark proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to remove medical debt from consumer credit reports.

In 2022, President Joe Biden also signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which limits the quantity Medicare enrollees must pay out-of-pocket for pharmaceuticals, including a $35 per 30 days insulin cap. And in statehouses across the country, Democrats and Republicans alike remained calm He’s workingg together enact laws to stop debt collectors.

But advocates say the federal government could do more to deal with an issue that weighs on 100 million Americans, forcing many to tackle extra work, leave their homes and cut spending on food and other essentials.

“Biden and Harris have done more to confront this country’s medical debt crisis than any other administration,” said Mona Shah, senior director of policy and strategy at Community Catalyst, a nonprofit that’s leading national efforts to strengthen protections against medical debt. “But there is still much work to be done, and it should be a top priority for the next Congress and administration.”

At the identical time, patient advocates fear that if former President Donald Trump wins a second term, he’ll weaken insurance coverage by allowing states to chop Medicaid programs or limit federal aid to assist Americans afford medical insurance. This would put hundreds of thousands of people at greater risk of falling into debt in the event that they grow to be unwell.

During his first term, Trump and Republicans in Congress in 2017 tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which independent analysts said would deprive hundreds of thousands of Americans of medical insurance and lift costs for individuals with pre-existing conditions reminiscent of diabetes and cancer.

Trump and his GOP allies proceed to attack the ACA, and the previous president has said he desires to roll back the Inflation Reduction Act, which also includes aid to assist low- and moderate-income Americans afford medical insurance.

“People will face a wave of medical debt from paying premiums and prescription drug prices,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA, a consumer group that supports federal health care. “Patients and the public should be concerned.”

The Trump campaign didn’t reply to inquiries concerning the health care program. The former president typically doesn’t touch on health care or medical debt issues through the campaign, although he said during last month’s debate that he had a “conceptual plan” to enhance the ACA. Trump didn’t provide details.

Harris has repeatedly pledged to guard the ACA and renew expanded subsidies for monthly insurance premiums created by the Inflation Reduction Act. This aid is scheduled to run out next 12 months.

The vice chairman also expressed support for increasing government spending to buy and forgive patients’ old medical debt. In recent years, many states and cities have purchased medical debt on behalf of their residents.

These efforts have reduced the debt burden of lots of of hundreds of people, although many patient and consumer advocates argue that writing off old debts is at best a short-term solution because patients will proceed to rack up bills they can’t pay without more concrete motion.

“It’s a boat with a hole in it,” said Katie Berge, a lobbyist for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last 12 months, the patient group was amongst over 50 organizations sent letters to the Biden administration urging federal agencies to take more aggressive steps to guard Americans from medical debt.

“Medical debt is no longer a niche problem,” said Kirsten Sloan, who works on federal policy for the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network. “It is key to the economic prosperity of millions of Americans.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is developing rules that will prohibit medical bills from appearing on consumer credit reports, which might improve credit scores and make it easier for hundreds of thousands of Americans to rent an apartment, discover a job or secure a automobile loan.

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Harris, who called medical debt “critical to the financial health and well-being of millions of Americans,” enthusiastically supported the proposed rule. “No one should be denied access to economic opportunity simply because they have experienced a medical emergency,” she said in June.

Harris’ colleague, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who says his family struggled with medical debt when he was young, signed the state bill into law in June fight against debt collection.

CFPB officials have said the principles will probably be finalized early next 12 months. Trump has not indicated whether he’ll pursue medical debt protections. During its first term, the CFPB did little to deal with medical debt, and Republicans in Congress have long criticized the regulatory agency.

If Harris prevails, many consumer groups want the CFPB to crack down much more, including tightening oversight of medical bank cards and other financial products that hospitals and other healthcare providers have begun to impose on patients. These loans lock people into paying interest on top of their medical debt.

“We’re seeing a lot of new medical financial products,” said April Kuehnhoff, senior staff attorney on the National Consumer Law Center. “They may raise new consumer protection concerns, which is why it is critical for the CFPB and other regulators to monitor these companies.”

Some supporters want other federal agencies to get entangled.

This includes the big Department of Health and Human Services, which controls lots of of billions of dollars through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. This money gives the federal government an enormous advantage over hospitals and other health care providers.

So far, the Biden administration has not used this leverage to cope with medical debt.

But in a possible sign of future motion, state leaders in North Carolina recently won approval from the federal government for a medical debt initiative that will force hospitals to take steps to cut back patient debt in exchange for presidency aid. Harris praised the initiative.