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Senate advances bill to buy down medical debt, bar most medical debt from credit reports
Summary
The Vermont Senate amended and advanced S.27, a bill that would appropriate $1 million for nonprofits to purchase and abolish qualifying medical debt and generally prohibit most medical debt from consumer credit reports, with eligibility limits and exceptions detailed in committee reports.
The Vermont Senate on March 19 advanced S.27, an act relating to medical debt relief and excluding medical debt from credit reports, moving the bill forward after committee debate and amendments.
The bill, reported by Senator Cummings for the Committee on Health and Welfare, would authorize the state treasurer to use $1 million to contract with a nonprofit to buy and abolish qualifying medical debt. Cummings said the investment "can buy down about $10,000,000 in medical debt for people in Vermont." The aid would target households at or below 400% of the federal poverty level or those whose medical debt equals 5% or more of household income and only where routine collection efforts by the provider have already occurred.
Supporters told…
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