Medical Debt
South Carolinians suffer more from medical debt than people from just about any other state!
South Carolina is an outlier when it comes to Medical Debt in collections
Hospital bills affect the average South Carolinian harder than residents in just about any other state.
South Carolina has the 2nd highest rate of medical debt in collections in the nation. We’re not just talking medical debt. We’re talking debt so bad that it’s gone to collections! (South Carolina Public Radio)
1 in 5 South Carolinians have medical debt in collections. For African Americans in SC, it’s 1 in 4.
Other states are acting. Why aren’t we?
There are solutions out there that many states have begun implementing to ease the crushing weight of medical debt for their residents.
Arizona has set a ceiling for interest on all medical debt. Other states like Connecticut make it illegal to charge interest on medical debt to patients who are below a certain income level.
(Commonwealth Fund)
Arizona has also cancelled $2B in medical debt, helping up to 1 million Arizonans.
(The Hill)
North Carolina is offering financial incentives for hospitals to forgive unpaid bills to low- and middle-income residents.
(AP News)
Even the federal government has helped by ruling that medical debt could not be used on credit reports, opening the doors to loans for millions of Americans who were previously closed out from them. Our lawmakers could have made this happen before, but they refused to take up proposed legislation on this subject.
(NBC News)
SC Government is a Collection Agency?
Many are shocked to learn that the South Carolina state government has inserted itself into the medical debt industry by acting as a debt collector, taking money out of peoples’ tax refunds or even garnishing wages to pay off hospital bills.
(Consumers for Quality Care)
Our government has no business being in the debt collection business! They don’t do this for any other industry: Not for mortgages, car loans, credit cards, and so on. So why have they carved out this sweetheart deal with hospitals?
Furthermore, hospital bills and insurance coverage are often riddled with errors and are confusing to understand even in the best of situations. I know this from personal experience when I received large bills from the hospital for test performed to donate an organ – when it’s against the law for a donor to be billed a single penny for this process!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to get back money from the state government when they’ve “collected” from you money for a hospital bill that was in error?
Some Lawmakers Tried to Fix It, But the Majority Said No
In 2023, Senator Jackson introduced a bill that would
PROHIBIT THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE FROM GARNISHING WAGES IN AN AMOUNT MORE THAN TEN PERCENT OF A PERSON’S COMPENSATION FOR A DELINQUENT DEBT TO A PUBLIC HOSPITAL
In 2023, Rep Cobb-Hunter and others introduced a bill that would
prohibit the reporting of medical debt information and certain other information that is not relevant to the credit or payment history of a consumer
It also went to a committee where it was never taken up by the Republican majority.
My Position
I will work to get the South Carolina government out of the medical debt collections business.
I will fight for policies that give South Carolinians more breathing room to deal with the costs of medical care.