Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont plans to cancel up to $1 billion in medical debt for hundreds of thousands of residents, making it the first state to take the step.
Lamont made the announcement Friday during an appearance on ABC News, saying the plans call for leveraging $6.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds the state has received to wipe out the medical debt held by about 250,000 residents who meet the basic income qualifications.
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A new report suggests that middle-class Americans are struggling with greater medical debt than any other class of Americans, with one out of every four having unpaid medical bills.
As Axios reports, the data comes from the left-wing think tank Third Way, which calculates that as many as 17 million middle-class Americans – those making between $50,000 and $100,000 per year – are struggling to pay off medical debts. Middle-class Americans in particular are even less likely to qualify for Medicare than low-income Americans.
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Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is pitching a plan to tap into federal pandemic relief funds to “erase” an estimated $2 billion in medical debt owed by the state’s residents.Â
The plan, which will be included in Lamont’s preliminary two-year budget proposal to be unveiled next week, calls for using $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to hire a nonprofit organization that buys medical debt and eliminates it “at a fraction” of the original cost.Â
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