Majority of Americans favor forgiving medical debt, AP-NORC poll finds
Majorities of Americans favor forgiving all or some of an individual’s medical debt if the person is facing hardships
NEW YORK (AP) — Janille Williams wants to buy a house someday — but first, he has to pay down tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt.
“I was hospitalized for a blood infection for three months more than ten years ago, and the bill was for more than $300,000,” said Williams, 38, a Fairbanks, Alaska, resident who works as a retail sales manager for AT&T. “I was in the middle of changing jobs, the only time in my life I haven’t had health insurance.”
When the bill went to collections, the debt was eventually lowered to about $50,000, he said, an amount that was still not feasible for him to pay.
Medical debt forgiveness, a priority for some lawmakers and advocates, would make a substantial difference to Williams' credit report and stop the calls from collections agencies.
