Our Policy Goals

Affordable health insurance without high out-of-pocket costs or coverage gaps is one of the best ways to prevent medical debt.

In recent years over 90% of people in the U.S. have had health insurance which is very positive, but too many people can’t afford their premiums, have high-deductible plans, limited networks or are using “skimpy,” short-term plans. That is why we work to inform and deepen policy conversations around quality health insurance.

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We advocate for accessible, understandable and comprehensive hospital financial aid policies that will prevent or reduce patients’ medical debts.

The majority of hospitals in the U.S. are nonprofits and in exchange for tax breaks and other subsidies they are required to provide financial aid to qualifying patients. For-profit and government hospitals and physicians also often provide discounted or free care for financially burdened people. But financial aid policies vary from state-to-state and too often patients who qualify for financial aid don’t receive it. That is why we collaborate with partners on research and share stories from our debt relief recipients to make “charity care” accessible and presumptive.

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We work to ban extraordinary debt collection practices that cause harm to people’s social mobility and emotional health, like medical debt lawsuits and wage garnishment which increase the likelihood of bankruptcy.

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. Extraordinary collection actions also include: reporting medical debts to credit agencies as a negative mark, placing a lien on a property and denying medically necessary care because of outstanding debts. Medical debt is a debt of necessity. No one chooses to get sick, be in an accident or be born with a chronic illness. As such, we advocate for protecting individuals from collection actions that undermine their health and that of their families.

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