Gov. Ned Lamont appeared on “Good Morning America” on Feb. 2 to announce that Connecticut would forgive approximately $650 million in medical debt for around 250,000 residents this year.   

The governor said that the state would be leveraging $6.5 million left over from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to partner with a nonprofit organization that would negotiate with hospitals to purchase, and then cancel, large amounts of debt at a reduced price.     

Julia Bergman, Lamont’s communications director, said that seeing city and county governments across the nation trying to utilize pandemic relief funds to forgive medical debt inspired the governor to do the same.     

“From the governor’s perspective, this (medical debt) was a dark cloud hanging over residents’ heads,” she said. “It’s not a type of debt that they get into through any fault of their own. They might go to the hospital because they’re really sick, and then they get out, and they have this huge bill that they can’t afford to pay.”

Bergman added that although the move doesn’t prevent people from getting into medical debt in the future, Lamont has been working to propose measures intended to lower the cost of healthcare in Connecticut and make it more accessible.    

“This is happening in concert with other things that the governor is proposing that actually address the high cost of health care,” Bergman said. “… the governor has introduced and will continue to introduce proposals to address high healthcare costs, things like lowering prescription drug prices.”    

State Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, said that he blames Connecticut Democrats and their policies for the need for such a measure in the first place.    

“This idea is typical of Democrats in Connecticut; create a problem and then sell government as the solution to fix it,” he said. “Health care in Connecticut has grown increasingly more unaffordable because of Democrat policies that punish providers and impose more regulations on the industry. That is why premiums in Connecticut continue to rise and have limited many individuals’ access to healthcare services.”    

Sampson added that while the current plan would utilize federal funds, the Connecticut legislature approved a proposal last year to subsidize the medical debts of certain residents by using tax dollars.    

Rosete added that the decision to forgive medical debt gives afflicted residents an opportunity to put their money toward other aspects of their lives.    

“If you can’t pay for a medical debt, you take a hit on your credit score, you have to pay interest and that could saddle you with debt for a very long time,” he said. “If you forgive those medical debts, then those families do not have to pay that interest. They can put that money elsewhere. They can put it towards their kids’ school. They can put it towards paying workers if they’re small business owners. They can put it towards going to school themselves. It opens up a lot more options than if you had just given them a check to spend.”

Arielle Levin Becker, the chief of staff and communications director at the Connecticut Health Foundation, said that medical debt and healthcare costs are something that disproportionately affects people of color.

“Nationally, black residents are more likely to have medical debt than others,” she said. “There is national data from 2021 where 13% of black residents in the U.S. reported having medical debt compared to 8% of Hispanic residents and 7% of white residents, and 3% of Asian residents. So, it is something that disproportionately burdens people of color. We hear from community organizations and community partners that it’s not just medical debt, but health care costs in general that are a major concern for people.”    

Becker added that while she is happy steps are being taken to help people with medical debt now, she said that it is vital to come up with measures to help people in the future.    

“I will say that I think everybody recognizes that medical debt is one piece of a larger and broader issue of health care affordability,” she said. “There are a lot of people who don’t yet have medical debt but will eventually. So, while it’s important to make sure you’re helping people who are faced with this burden now, I think one of the important things is thinking about how you avoid being back in this position again.”