The Blubber

Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Ro Khanna are proposing a new bill to eliminate all medical debt.

Introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the bill proposes a federal grant program to eliminate all existing medical debt and amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to prevent creditors from collecting past medical bills. It also seeks to update billing requirements for medical providers and modify the Consumer Credit Reporting Act to stop credit agencies from reporting information related to unpaid medical bills, thereby preventing such debt from impacting patients’ credit histories.

Sanders and Khanna emphasized the bill's importance for the financial security of many families, highlighting the millions of Americans burdened by medical debt. According to a 2022 investigation by NPR and KFF Health News, over 100 million Americans, including 41% of adults, have some form of healthcare debt. An analysis by KFF of the Census Bureau’s survey of income and program participation suggests that Americans owe at least $220 billion in medical debt.

“This is the United States of America, the richest country in the history of the world. People in our country should not be going bankrupt because they got cancer and could not afford to pay their medical bills,” Sanders stated.

Sanders, who promised to eliminate medical debt during his 2020 presidential campaign, has worked with Khanna for over a year on the bill. As the chair of the Senate health, education, labor, and pensions (Help) committee, Sanders has strived to turn his campaign pledge into legislative reality.

“No one in America should face financial ruin because of the outrageous cost of an unexpected medical emergency or a hospital stay,” Sanders emphasized. “The time has come to cancel all medical debt and guarantee health care to all as a human right, not a privilege.”

Khanna, in an interview with the Guardian, shared stories of Americans struggling with medical debt, underscoring the urgent need for action. He recounted meeting a woman burdened with hundreds of pages of medical bills and hearing from another person whose mother amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt after a stroke.

The burden of medical debt disproportionately impacts marginalized communities in the US, according to the KFF analysis. Individuals with a disability were more than twice as likely to have medical debt compared to those without a disability. While 7% of white adults and 8% of Hispanic adults reported having medical debt, 13% of Black Americans stated they had unpaid medical bills. Additionally, a 2016 study published in Health Affairs found that about one-third of cancer survivors had incurred debt due to their diagnoses, with 3% filing for bankruptcy.

“I’ve met people who say they’re just resigned to having this debt ruin their credit, and they don’t pay it, but they have this kind of harassment and anxiety while they’re dealing with a chronic condition like cancer or diabetes,” Khanna said. “The amount of stories that people share about this have really startled me.”

While Sanders and Khanna's bill may face challenges in the Republican-controlled House, polls indicate that canceling medical debt garners broad support from members of both parties. A YouGov survey from 2022 showed that 66% of Americans – including 56% of Republicans and 85% of Democrats – support providing relief to those with medical debt.

“People in America don’t think you should go into debt because you go to see a doctor or go to the emergency room,” Khanna emphasized. “It’s kind of human decency.”