New Jersey has a new law that expands protections for people dealing with medical debt.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act. Debt-collection agencies had opposed the measure, arguing it would create unintended consequences.
“No patient receives a bill while they are still recovering in their hospital bed,” Murphy said. “It will also keep medical bills out of collections for longer so families have more time to seek financial assistance or even appeal a charge. And this law will also ensure that medical debt cannot be reported to credit agencies.”
An estimated 1 in 9 New Jersey residents have medical debt. Under the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act, people who owe $500 or less will now not have it reported on credit reports.
“[The law] will protect generations of New Jerseyans from falling into medical debt and facing the risk of financial ruin,” said Murphy.
Amanda Schlesier, New Jersey advocacy leader with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said she’s happy to see these protections enshrined into law, but would have preferred for them to be signed early enough to help her. Schlesier took out thousands of dollars in personal loans and credit card debt to pay off her own medical treatment.
“I can’t go and change the past now, and I am just glad that anyone else who has to deal with it in the future doesn’t have to force their way through these roadblocks,” she said.
The Murphy administration has a separate initiative to use ten million dollars in state funds to wipe out people’s medical debt.
