New Bill Seeks To Ban Sale Of Medical Debt, Prohibit Impact To Credit Scores In Massachusetts

When a single mother of two was diagnosed with breast cancer, she never imagined how quickly the debt collectors would start calling. A new bill being introduced in Massachusetts is seeking to stop the sale of medical debt and prohibit it from impacting people’s credit reports.

“You’re just thinking about doing what you need to do in order to get better,” Nekia Clark said. “And you just assume that your insurance covers everything.”

Her treatment plan included a lumpectomy, radiation, and five years of Tamoxifen. But after two surgeries failed to achieve clear margins, she elected to undergo a mastectomy. Even though she had insurance, the bills started to pile up.

“The deductible was what was the expensive part. I was going to delay surgery to kind of give myself some time to save money, but in reality, you can’t save for cancer,” she said.

She had $10,000 of unpaid medical bills she got the first call from a debt collector.

“About a month after my surgery, that’s when all the calls came in. And it’s so frustrating. And I will admit that a lot of times I just didn’t answer the phone. I wanted to make these payments. I just couldn’t,” she said.

Her credit, financial security, and mental health were shattered.

“I was a single mother, my son was still in daycare and that’s when I was like, ‘oh, what am I gonna do?'”

Clark’s story is not uncommon in Massachusetts. Nearly 13% of residents struggle with medical debt – including her own mother, who was also diagnosed with breast cancer.

“My mom when she passed away was still in debt. She, at that point, was trying to do whatever she could to stay alive and that’s what people’s mindset, is you just want to do whatever you can just stay alive,” Clark explained.

Now, nearly a decade in remission and out of debt, Clark is supporting legislation at the state house to make debt collection a little more compassionate for those just trying to stay alive.

“This is not due to a person’s reckless spending or irresponsible purchases,” said Senator John Cronin.

He’s sponsoring a bill that would ban the sale of medical debt to debt buyers, reduce the maximum interest on medical debt from 12% to 3%, and prohibit it from being included in credit reports.