Gov. Josh Shapiro gives his 2024 budget address at the Capitol in Harrisburg Feb. 6, 2024 (Commonwealth Media Services photo)
Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcies in the United States, and more than 2 in 5 American adults have some.
In many cases, the money people owe to health care providers forces them to cut spending on food or utilities, forgo other medical care or take on even more debt. Medical debt can make it impossible to buy a home, pay for college or save for retirement.
To address the problem, Connecticut , New Jersey and a growing list of counties and cities are using public money to purchase and forgive millions of dollars of their residents’ medical debt. Earlier this month, Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled a budget proposal that would set aside $4 million to purchase and pay off the debt of Pennsylvanians with low incomes. A disproportionate number of the 1 million state residents who owe money to health care providers live in rural areas, according to Shapiro.