WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Governor Roy Cooper and the NC Department of Health and Human Services are attempting to leverage the state Medicaid program encouraging hospitals to relieve potential up to $4 billion in medical debt for about two million North Carolinians.

“NCDHHS submitted a request to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to approve a set of conditions hospitals must meet to be eligible to receive an enhanced amount of Medicaid funds. These conditions include relieving existing medical debt and establishing policies to prevent the accumulation of medical debt for low- and middle-income North Carolinians. Hospitals that choose not to meet these conditions will receive the standard amount of these funds,” an announcement from the governor’s office states.

One investigation found that up to 41 percent of adults in the U.S. have medical debt in some form and that it disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic communities.

“Large medical bills from sickness or injury can cripple the finances of North Carolinians, particularly those who are already struggling,” said Cooper. “Freeing people from medical debt can be life-changing for families, as well as boost the overall economic health of North Carolina.”

With the changes approved by CMS, hospitals would be able to receive enhanced payments under the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program if they implement multiple debt relief and mitigation policies:

• “Relieving all medical debt deemed uncollectible dating back to January 1, 2014, for any individuals not enrolled in Medicaid with incomes at least at or below 350% of the federal poverty level (FPL) or for whom total debt exceeds 5% of annual income.
• “Relieving all unpaid medical debt dating back to January 1, 2014, for individuals who are enrolled in Medicaid.
• “Providing discounts on medical bills of between 50-100% for patients with incomes at or below 300% FPL, with the amount of the discount varies based on the patient’s income.
• “Automatically enrolling people into financial assistance, known as charity care, by implementing a policy for presumptively determining individuals eligible for financial assistance through a streamlined screening approach.
• “Not selling any medical debt for consumers with incomes at or below 300% FPL to debt collectors.
• “Not reporting a patient’s debt covered by these policies to a credit reporting agency.”

You can learn more about the efforts online here.

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