{"id":2268882,"date":"2024-06-16T10:29:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-16T14:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taxpayer-subsidized-medical-debt-relief-program-ready-for-pritzkers-desk\/"},"modified":"2024-06-16T10:31:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T14:31:51","slug":"taxpayer-subsidized-medical-debt-relief-program-ready-for-pritzkers-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taxpayer-subsidized-medical-debt-relief-program-ready-for-pritzkers-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"Subsidized medical debt relief program awaits Pritzker&#8217;s approval"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftaxpayer-subsidized-medical-debt-relief-program-ready-for-pritzkers-desk%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2268882&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The \u2063Medical Debt Relief Pilot\u200c Program Fund in Illinois, which aims to clear\u2064 outstanding\u200b medical \u200cdebts for over 300,000 residents, is set to be approved by the governor. Sponsored by State Sen. Mike Simmons and carried in the House by Rep. Kelly Cassidy, House Bill 5290\u2063 targets households \u200dearning below 400% of \u2063the Federal\u2062 Poverty Level or those whose medical \u2062debt is 5% or more of their household income. The program, which runs on a five-year trial, plans to utilize $10 \u200bmillion through a nonprofit collaboration to eliminate up \u200bto \u2062$1 billion in medical debt. Critics such as State Rep. Chris Miller express concern\u200c over the situation that necessitated such a program. The program\u2062 will also allow the\u200c Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to receive private and charitable funds to support its mission.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 More than 300,000 Illinois residents stand to be cleared of all outstanding medical debt through the creation of the Medical Debt Relief Pilot Program Fund ready to be sent to the governor.<\/p>\n<p>Sponsored by state Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, House Bill 5290 seeks to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vermont-advocates-renew-push-for-single-payer-system\/\" title=\"Vermont advocates push for single payer system revival\">alleviate medical debt<\/a> for families across the state residing in households with individuals falling below 400% of the Federal Poverty Level or saddled with medical debt equating to 5% or more of their household income.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes people afraid to go to the doctor, afraid to follow up on chronic illnesses that need consistent care when people are getting all kinds of bills every time they go to the hospital that they will never be able to pay,\u201d Simmons told The Center Square.<\/p>\n<p>If approved by the governor, the five<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-claims-only-small-percentage-of-public-focused-on-migrant-crisis\/\" title=\"Biden admin. claims only small percentage of public focused on migrant crisis\">-year pilot program<\/a> will work with a nonprofit to use $10 million to pay off up to $1 billion in medical debt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis measure will set the slate ocean for so many people in our state and about 90% of people who currently have medical debt will be able to see relief through this measure,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n<p>In the House, state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, carried the bill where she highlighted one of her favorite things about the program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt also gives the [Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services] the opportunity to accept private funds and charitable funds to make those available as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>GOP lawmakers like state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, are openly expressing regret and concern about things having come to this.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne thing we need to remember is that Illinois is broke and people are leaving,\u201d Miller told The Center Square.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, supported the concept for constituents in central Illinois strapped with such debt, but questioned other priorities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf this is a worthy program, that it goes to provide some relief for these individuals and again not spend hundreds of millions or billions of dollars on a population that are here illegally,\u201d Halbrook said during debate last month.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans are critical of the state continuing and increasing the budget for non-citizen health care that is subsidized by Illinois taxpayers.<\/p>\n<p>Cassidy said the bill is silent on whether those benefiting from the taxpayer-subsidized debt relief program have to be citizens of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>During a news conference in Chicago in April, Pritzker said 14% of the state\u2019s population has medical debt in collections with minority communities disproportionately impacted. He called medical debt a \u201cuniquely American issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s preventing individuals and families from attaining financial stability,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cAnd, research shows it\u2019s also having day to day impacts for all the affected individuals like emotional distress and difficulty meeting basic needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, a study released in April by the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded while there is a statistical significant reduction in payment of existing medical debt, there is \u201cno impact of debt relief on credit access, utilization, and financial distress on average\u201d and \u201cno effect of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/eric-adams-unveils-plan-to-wipe-out-2-billion-in-medical-debt-for-new-yorkers\/\" title=\"Eric Adams reveals B medical debt eradication plan for New Yorkers\">medical debt relief<\/a> on mental health on average.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s estimated nearly two million Illinoisans have more than $4 billion in medical debt.<\/p>\n<p>Greg Bishop contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over 300,000 Illinoisans could see their medical debts erased thanks to the new Medical Debt Relief Pilot Program Fund, pending the governor&#8217;s approval. Sponsored by State Senator Mike Simmons of Chicago, House Bill 5290 aims to relieve the burden of medical debt for numerous families statewide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2268883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AP23291684603724-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2268882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AP23291684603724-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2268882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2268882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2268883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2268882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2268882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2268882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}