RALEIGH, NC – August 7, 2024 – Each of the state’s 99 hospitals have signed up for a new state program to reduce medical debt. On July 1st, Governor Cooper announced an initiative to increase federal payments to participating hospitals who agree to forgive medical debt for low- and middle-income patients. The sign-up deadline was August 9th. The medical debt program is believed to be the first one of its kind in the United States. Uncollectible medical debt dating back to 2014 will be forgiven.
The medical initiative includes some related benefits. It offers discounts to low-income patients who did not qualify for Medicaid. Caps interest rates on hospital medical debt. Hospitals agree not report medical debt to credit agencies.
There is a medical debt crisis in North Carolina. According to 2022 credit bureau data analyzed by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit organization that shapes policy through economic and social policy research, 20% of North Carolina’s residents has medical debt in collections, the fourth highest state in the country. Black and Hispanic persons and people living in rural areas are disproportionately affected by having medical debt.
The medical debt program will be funded by federal money coming from the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program, or HASP, because the state Medicaid program shifted to managed care. It is estimated that 2 million low- and middle-income North Carolinians will have $4 billion of medical debt forgiven.
Cooper said in a news release, “Large medical bills from sickness or injury can cripple the finances of North Carolinians, particularly those who are already struggling. Freeing people from medical debt can be life-changing for families, as well as boost the overall economic health of North Carolina.”
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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, healthyasheville@ashevillefm.org