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She has worked as an after-school teacher and tutor, a COVID-19 contact tracer and a driver for a ride-hailing service, but none of those jobs has come with health insurance benefits. It's not just for cancer care, but also bills for unrelated health problems that developed in the following years. She estimates her total medical debt today is over $50,000. North Carolina has not expanded Medicaid, so despite her low income, Wingard, who is 58 and does not have young children, doesn't qualify for the public insurance program in her state. Someone like Wingard - a Black woman living in North Carolina - is less likely to benefit from the credit companies' new policies.Īfter Wingard's oncologist cut her off, it took almost six months to find another doctor who would see her while letting bills go unpaid. Shots - Health News This group's wiped out $6.7 billion in medical debt, and it's just getting startedīut, Sandler says, 'the population that is going to have all their collections removed is a little more likely to live in majority-white neighborhoods and high-income neighborhoods.'Ĭollections under $500 often result from an unpaid copay or coinsurance, Sandler says, and people with insurance are more likely to be richer and white. But a federal report released this summer suggests those may not be the people who need it most.

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The changes, which go into full effect in 2023, are expected to benefit an estimated 16 million Americans. This doesn't wipe out what people owe, but the idea is to remove the black mark of collections from their credit so they can more easily reach milestones like qualifying for a car or home loan. Under the new policies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion will remove from credit reports any paid debts or individual bills that were less than $500 and had gone to collections, even if unpaid.

But it turns out the changes aren't enough to help her or many other Black and low-income patients, who are often the ones hit hardest by medical debt. 'It's like you're being punished for being sick,' Wingard says.Įarlier this year, when three national credit agencies announced new policies to deal with medical debt, consumer advocates celebrated, thinking it would provide relief for patients like Wingard. Medical debt has sunk her credit score so low that she has struggled to qualify for loans, and applying for jobs and apartments has become a harrowing experience. 'My hair hadn't even grown back from chemo,' Wingard says, 'and I couldn't see my oncologist.' Shots - Health News Medical debt upended their lives.

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