NEW YORK — Janille Williams wants to buy a house someday, but first he has to pay off tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt.
“More than a decade ago, I spent three months in the hospital for a blood infection, and the bill was over $300,000,” said Williams, 38, a resident of Fairbanks, Alaska, who works as a retail sales manager for A.T.&T. “I was in the middle of a job change, the only time in my life I haven’t had health insurance.”
When the bill was collected, the debt was eventually reduced to about $50,000, he said, an amount he still couldn’t pay.
Forgiving medical debt, a priority for some lawmakers and advocates, would make a substantial difference to Williams’ credit report and stave off calls from debt collectors.
‘In the hospital they don’t give you a choice. “If you leave, you die,” they told me. I didn’t feel like dying,” Williams said. “I don’t think anyone should have to be in financial ruin in order to live.”
Many Americans agree, he said a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. According to the survey, about half of Americans say it is extremely or very important that the U.S. government provide debt relief to those who still need to pay for their medical treatments.
The number has been increasing, especially since the pandemic number of cities and states – including Connecticut, New York City, New Orleans and Chicago – are implementing their own versions of medical debt forgiveness. The Biden administration recently announced a proposed rule that would wipe consumers’ medical debt from most credit reports.
The poll found that support for medical debt forgiveness is especially strong in cases where a patient has suffered health care fraud. About two-thirds of American adults support forgiveness of medical debt if, for example, the individual has been incorrectly billed for services. But the majority of Americans also support relief in other situations, such as when the patient has been on time on an existing loan for 20 years, has large medical debts relative to their income, or is experiencing financial difficulties.
About 6 in 10 people with medical bill debt support medical debt forgiveness if the person has large debts compared to their income, compared to about half of people without medical debt.
Denise Early, 65, an independent in Omaha, Nebraska, who supports medical debt forgiveness, said she suffered an injury on the job that ultimately led to several surgeries that she said should have been covered by workers’ compensation claims, but they didn’t. The costs eventually led her to declare bankruptcy.
Early was working as a custodian at a post office, she said, when she had an accident. After initial hospital visits and treatments were ineffective, Early eventually underwent knee and ankle surgery to address the persistent problems.
“I still get bills every day,” Early said. “Forgiveness would help pay off a lot of my debt.”
Early said she also currently has more than $100,000 in unpaid student loans.
Although reducing student loan debt has been a focus for President Joe BidenThe poll found that Americans are more likely to say that medical debt relief should be a government priority. About four-in-ten American adults say it is extremely or very important that the U.S. government provide student debt relief.
Lesley Turner, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Chicago who contributed to the poll, said the survey shows a divide over who deserves debt relief.
“If you have to go to the emergency room because of a major health problem, that is much less of an active choice than the decision to go to college,” she said. “Even though, given the current economy, going to college is in many ways a very important, if not essential, route to economic mobility and stability.”
Overall, Democrats, Republicans and Independents are all equally likely to support paying off medical debt if the person has suffered fraud, the AP-NORC poll found, although Democrats are more supportive than Republicans in cases where the person is in financial trouble or if the person has large amounts of medical debt in relation to their income.
Ed Kane, a 71-year-old Republican from Chicopee, Massachusetts, believes that medical debt forgiveness should not be an option. He has survived multiple medical emergencies – including heart attacks and cancer – and credits his employer’s health insurance for providing good coverage that has kept him out of debt.
“We are becoming a nation that gives everything away. And I’m tired of it,” Kane said. “I’ve worked hard all my life. I had two jobs. This meant I had good health insurance. Anyone can do it; there is no reason that people cannot reach a higher level than they are now.”
Forgiving medical debt is also a higher priority for Democrats. According to the poll, about two-thirds of Democrats say it is extremely or very important that the U.S. government provide medical debt relief, compared to about three in 10 Republicans.
Matt Haskell, 24, of Englewood, Florida, a Republican who said he supports debt forgiveness, also has firsthand experience with high medical bills for an unexpected emergency.
Haskell said he was working on cars at the time of his accident, some of which were rusty. One afternoon something that looked like a piece of cloth got into his eye.
“It turned out to be a metal chip lodged in my cornea,” Haskell said. “I didn’t know for five days. I went to the emergency room when I couldn’t open my eyes.”
During the visit, Haskell said he racked up more than $4,500 in debt.
“In general, I don’t think it’s ever anyone’s fault if they have a medical condition,” he said. “If they develop cancer or a tumor or have an episode of undiagnosed diabetes, it’s not anyone’s fault if they develop anything and now they’re in thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.”
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Associated Press writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
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The poll of 1,309 adults was conducted May 16 to 21, 2024, using a sample from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points for all respondents.
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The Associated Press receives support from the Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.