The White House has announced new plans to help the American people get some relief from the negative repercussions of medical debt. This new plan would task the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to begin procedures to remove medical debt from credit reports of millions of Americans. According to the CFPB, there are 15 million households in America with medical debt.
Medical debt can have a disastrous effect on families. It can ruin them financially, and it can also prevent them from seeking much-needed medical services. The devastating impact is even worse with marginalized communities. According to the White House, “Black and Hispanic communities, as well as people with low incomes, veterans, older adults and young adults of all races and ethnicities, are disproportionately impacted by medical debt.”
According to a survey by Healthcare Value Hub, “66% of respondents of color went without care due to cost, including 70% of Hispanic/Latino respondents, compared to 62% of white, non-Hispanic respondents.”
The Utah Supreme Court’s Office of Legal Services recently approved a medical debt initiative by the Innovation for Justice (I4J). The plan received approval from the Utah Supreme Court’s Office of Legal Services Innovation for two medical debt initiatives. In conjunction with the I4J, a local social services non-profit — Holy Cross Ministries (HCM) — has launched the Medical Debt Legal Advocacy program to help individuals navigate what can often be a confusing and overwhelming process.
HCM strives to make a difference in the state’s marginalized communities. Amid national efforts to make cuts to Medicaid, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, Holy Cross Ministries’ model manages to offer people help in navigating the complex U.S. medical system, a system that, according to the White House, is, “erecting significant barriers to obtaining financial assistance.”
Overall, one report found that non-profit hospitals are spending only 2.3% of their revenue on financial assistance, a lower percentage than for-profit hospitals. Through the MDLA program, Holy Cross Ministries has managed to succeed in its efforts to help marginalized communities who face lack of access to medical care or a mounting morass of medical bills.
Take Maria, for example, who came to Holy Cross Ministries seeking help with past medical bills and the costs of delivering a baby. After meeting with Holy Cross Ministries, she received an explanation of how to tackle a case like hers.
First, she needed to apply for Medicaid, not only for her U.S.-born kids, but also retroactively for a visit to the ER that she had had a couple of months back. This process can be overwhelming for so many people as they need someone not only to explain to them how it all works, but also to advocate for them in the middle of that bureaucratic nightmare.
Soon Maria found herself with medical bills not only from the hospital where she had received services, but also from providers of other services — like the anesthesiologist and doctors providing other services. Holy Cross Ministries was there all along to call on her behalf and make sure that all those different services provided her with the needed time to complete her Medicaid process.
Once Medicaid was approved for her children — and emergency Medicaid approved for her — the hospital was able to process payments, still leaving Maria sizable medical debt that Medicaid did not consider “an emergency.” Holy Cross Ministries helped Maria initiate another long, confusing and, at times, overwhelming process in navigating her medical debt with the hospital. After a long back-and-forth process with the hospital, Maria was approved for financial assistance and her medical bills were taken care of — eventually also covering her delivery and obtaining Medicaid for her newborn baby.
These types of cases are all too common in our state. Neither the state, nor medical institutions, make access to both financial and medical services readily available to people. The White House notes that, “despite receiving roughly $60 billion in tax breaks, too many nonprofit hospitals are failing to provide sufficient financial assistance — or failing to make known the availability of financial assistance — to low-income patients.”
The state of Utah can step in and join other states that have used public money to buy down or abolish medical debt for pennies on the dollar, showing our state’s residents that they will not be left alone in a crisis that could affect any one of us. Our state can also step in and put a stop to collection agencies who relentlessly pressure consumers.
As the White House reports, “These collectors, including both hospitals and third-party debt collectors, often subject patients to persistent and aggressive collection practices, including litigation, wage garnishment, and charging excessive interest.”
This is why supporting the administration’s initiative is paramount.
Carlos Flores is the Health Outreach Manager at Holy Cross Ministries.
Carlos Flores is a proud and lucky father. He’s currently the health outreach manager at Holy Cross Ministries (HCM) where he enjoys working with his team, community members and making partnerships with other organizations, all to fulfill HCM’s vision to “respond to the underserved community’s need for health and wellbeing”. He’s also a first-generation college student working towards a master’s degree in social work at the University of Utah. He has a passion for helping those that don’t have a voice and giving back to this great nation. He enjoys spending time with his family, running and meditating.
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