Michigan took another step Monday in its effort to eliminate medical debt for thousands of residents. The state announced it would wipe out $74 million in medical debt for 71,871 individuals. It’s the second round of a program that began last year, when the state said it would help residents erase more than $144 million in medical debt. The move comes amid a bipartisan push to offer patients more protections from collections by keeping them from going underwater on their hospital bills.Officials say more than $200 million in medical debt has been forgiven for roughly 280,000 Michiganders since the program launched last year.About 1 in 11 adults in Michigan — about 690,000 people — report having at least $250 in medical debt, according to a University of Michigan policy brief published in April.Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who approved allocating $4.5 million toward medical debt forgiveness in the 2024 budget, said the latest development “ensures fewer Michigan families must choose between putting food on the table or paying their medical bills, at a time when so many already are struggling with rising costs on the essentials driven by tariffs, cuts to Medicaid, and the Iran War.”
The state is working with Undue Medical Debt to administer the relief. Leadership at the nonprofit organization say they have separate programs with Kalamazoo, Oakland and Wayne counties where they’ve been able to erase an additional $80 million in medical debt.
