AUGUSTA, Maine — With many Mainers struggling to choose between financial freedom or taking care of their health, state lawmakers and consumer experts are backing two bills that look to make that choice a little easier.
In a press conference Thursday, Senator Mike Tipping explained how he is frustrated with current quick-fixes when it comes to recovering from medical debt.
"I'm reminded of just how broken our system is every time I go into a gas station and see a can sitting there with $10 in it and a picture with a child with cancer on the side of it. This is not how we should be having our healthcare system," Tipping said.
To help, bill LD 2115 would restrict the ways medical providers are allowed to sell debt to collection agencies if passed.
"This is debt that can just sneak up on you, and can strike at any time," Sen. Tipping said. "It would make sure that before providers sell that debt, they would have to offer it at the same rate, that much lower rate that they're already getting, to the patient themselves."
Medical credit cards are another side of the same coin; one that Senate President Troy Jackson hopes to tackle with a second bill, LD 2174.
"The proposal puts consumer protections in place to ensure the patients don't unknowingly enter into a predatory and unnecessary medical credit debt," Sen. Jackson said.
If passed, the bill would prevent providers from filling out a medical credit card application on behalf of a patient. Providers would also have to check to see if patients are eligible for charity care before accepting payment through a medical credit card.
"When we're in the hospital, we're there to get treatment, get well and go home. We're not thinking about filling out a lot of paperwork for financial assistance," Chuck Bell said, a representative for Consumer Reports. "It shows that medical debt is really a threat to household financial stability."
According to the nonprofit group Consumer Rights Maine, almost half of Mainers have some sort of medical debt; many of which stem from an unexpected health care visit.
Maine resident Patricia Kidder shared her thoughts on the bill, and how just a small push for better patient protections can make a difference.
"I can't even begin to tell you what medical debt has done to people I love, and my own family," Kidder said. "Health care is a human right. This is...this is just one step and one band aid on a hemorrhage."