Gov. Ned Lamont hopes to cancel medical debt for Connecticut residents.
University of Connecticut students who reside in the state may soon have the chance to rid themselves or their relatives of medical debt.
Gov. Ned Lamont proposed the elimination of about $650 million in medical debt, an article from CNN reported. If the proposed legislature is approved, it would make Connecticut the first state ever to have canceled medical debt.
The governor’s proposal would be applied to roughly 250,000 residents. Lamont spoke on CNN stating who would be covered.
“Mainly, it’s working families, folks earning up to about $125,000 a year who are paying 5% of their income in bad debt or medical debt expenses,” Lamont said on CNN. “Trying to liberate them a little bit. We’re now contracting with the not-for-profit. They’ll be going to the hospitals, seeing how much of this debt we’re able to write down. We’re doing this in association with the hospitals.”
Compared to the CNN report, a Hartford Courant article stated that Lamont announced $1 billion in medical debt being erased, after announcing the news on Good Morning America.
Thus far, some cities have canceled medical debt, but no entire state has done so, the Hartford Courant said.
Residents who would qualify for the exemption, if it goes through, would not need to apply to be considered.
“It’s really important that people have a sense that they can start building wealth of their own. We’re making that easier for people to do and the best way to start is by eliminating the debt that you’ve got,” Lamont said, according to the Hartford Courant.
The proposal was announced late last week. Lamont’s office stated that if approved, those who qualify could be altered as soon as the summer of their eligibility, a Connecticut Public article reported.
For more information and updates, the official Connecticut state website has an overview of the legislation outline.