medical debt
More people in NC will have health insurance on Dec. 1, but there’s more to do to improve access
North Carolina will reach a milestone Dec. 1 when an estimated 600,000 low-income people become eligible to enroll in health insurance under Medicaid expansion. North Carolina is the 40th state to expand Medicaid and allow people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level to enroll in the government health insurance plan. That’s […]
Out of legislators’ sight, North Carolinians watched and waited for Medicaid expansion
Evita Bass, director of a childcare center in Hillsborough, lives with constant pain from three wisdom teeth that need to be pulled and back pain from scoliosis. Bass, 31, has not had health insurance since she was 26 and on her mother’s insurance. She has always made too much to qualify for Medicaid and too […]
Weekend reads: Cooper’s latest veto, classrooms under conservative rule, and NC’s isolated wetland
Former UNC basketball coach launches an airball with ill-informed advocacy (commentary) By Rob Schofield Former UNC women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell doesn’t appear to be an insincere person. At a rally at the Legislative Building on Aug. 16, organized by right-wing culture warriors in support of a bill to ban transgender girls and women from participating […]
Researchers, state Treasurer highlight plight of NC residents with medical debt
Each month, Donna Lindabury pays $35 on a hospital bill for her husband, Gary’s, 2009 quadruple bypass surgery. The Lindaburys knew Gary was gravely ill when he was airlifted from a hospital in Boone to Charlotte 14 years ago. They also knew they could not afford a big medical bill. Gary wasn’t working and Donna […]
Sara Collins of the Commonwealth Fund details the 2023 Scorecard on State Health System Performance
Every year, researchers at the national nonprofit research organization, the Commonwealth Fund, produce a report that uses the most recent data to assess how well the healthcare system is working in every U.S. State. The report – which is called the “Scorecard on State Health System Performance” – looks at an array of interrelated issues […]
NC Senate committee approves caps on medical debt interest, limits on aggressive collection tactics
A bill that would limit aggressive medical debt collection tactics got its first affirmative vote in the legislature Thursday as it moved through a Senate committee with little discussion. Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican running for governor, has been promoting the “Medical Debt De-Weaponization Act” for months at community gatherings statewide. The bill would prohibit […]
Two communities find a cure for medical debt: pandemic stimulus funds
Local governments in Ohio and Illinois are using American Rescue Plan Act money to relieve residents struggling with medical debt by partnering with an organization that buys debt and wipes the slate clean for debtors. It’s a strategy advocates say could be duplicated across the country to help erase a multi-billion-dollar problem.
State Treasurer backs legislation that would give millions in NC free or discounted hospital care. It faces more review.
Millions of North Carolinians would be eligible for discounted or free hospital care, even after their insurance was billed, under proposed legislation debated this week. People who make up to 200% of the federal poverty level – this year, that’s $55,500 for a family of four - would receive free hospital care, under House Bill 1039. People in households of four people with incomes between $55,500 and $166,500, or 600% of the federal poverty level, would be eligible for discounts.