North Carolina leaders are celebrating a major victory in their efforts to relieve medical debt for over 2 million people in the state. The new program, launched in July, offers enhanced Medicaid payments to hospitals that implement measures to mitigate medical debt, including retrospective debt relief, and policies to reduce and prevent the accumulation of debt.
Governor Roy Cooper praised the program as a model for other states during a Zoom meeting with healthcare industry experts. The initiative is the first of its kind in the nation to use Medicaid payments to incentivize hospitals to address historical medical debt and adopt measures to prevent future debt.
Medical debt relief is a bipartisan issue with support from both Democratic and Republican leaders, according to state officials. The program is particularly important in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
The program is expected to wipe out $4 billion in debt for up to 2 million North Carolinians, with all 99 of the state’s hospitals participating. Medical debt is a national problem affecting over 20 million Americans, causing financial hardship and barriers to accessing care.
The state Department of Health and Human Services also released a toolkit to help other states address the burden of medical debt. The toolkit provides guidance on implementing similar programs to relieve medical debt and improve healthcare access for all individuals.
Overall, the program has been lauded as a critical step towards reducing financial harm, bankruptcies, and job loss caused by medical debt. The initiative aims to alleviate the financial burden on individuals, especially for those facing serious illnesses like cancer.
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