My Top-Earning NewsBreak Story in June was About Medical Debt
$49 billion gets people’s attention
Medical debt should not exist.
No one should face financial ruin simply because they got sick.
Still, in the U.S., medical debt IS a thing.
And, some 15 million people currently have about $49 billion worth of medical debt in collections.
Which means a big, negative impact on their credit reports.
Yes, the credit reporting industry is a whole other problem.
We live in a world where credit reports and scores make a big difference in terms of accessing credit, buying a home or renting, and even getting a job.
And here’s the deal: Lots of research suggests that the presence of medical debt in collections is not correlated with someone’s likelihood to repay other debt.
This could be for lots of reasons, but one is that people with insurance sometimes end up waiting a while for a reimbursement or appeal a coverage denial — and while that process is going on, the medical provider is attempting to collect the debt.
The bottom line: It’s unfair and harmful to include medical debt on credit reports.
