Kamala Harris Aims to Eliminate Medical Debt 

By Consumers for Quality Care, on September 11, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing an aggressive plan to wipe away medical debt for millions of Americans, according to CNBC. 

Americans together owe more than $220 billion medical debt, according to a KFF analysis conducted earlier this year. On the campaign trail, Harris debuted an economic plan that would allow states to work with residents “to help them avoid accumulating such debt in the future, because no one should go bankrupt just because they had the misfortune of becoming sick or hurt.” 

Americans owe more medical debt than any other kind of debt combined. According to a May poll conducted by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, most Americans support forgiving medical debt. “Medical debt affects an enormous number of people,” said Larry Levitt, KFF’s Executive Vice President for Health Policy, “So it’s an issue that resonates with voters.”  

Though Harris has not offered specifics, her plan may involve the federal government’s granting debt-relief funds to debt-forgiveness organizations. These organizations would then use the funds to purchase bundled medical debt, often for pennies on the dollar, and finally forgive the debt. “Amazingly, medical debt can be bought from collection agencies for a penny on the dollar, a reflection of the fact that so few people can afford to pay their overdue medical bills,” said Levitt. States and cities have already been using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act passed during the COVID-19 pandemic to help residents get out from under debt. 

CQC applauds these efforts but urges the nation’s elected leaders to address the root causes of medical debt and protect consumers.