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The number of people with medical debt on their credit reports fell by 8.2 million — or 17.9% — between 2020 and 2022, according to a report Tuesday from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. White House officials said in a separate draft report that the two-year drop likely stems from their policies. Among the programs they say contributed to less debt was an expansion of the Obama-era healthcare law that added 4.2 million people with some form of health insurance. Also, local governments are leveraging $16 million in coronavirus relief funds to wipe out $1.5 billion worth of medical debt. (Boak, 2/14)

Millions of Americans mired in medical debt face difficult financial decisions every day — pay the debt or pay for rent, utilities and groceries. Some may even skip necessary health care for fear of sinking deeper into debt. To address the problem, an increasing number of municipal, county and state governments are devising plans to spend federal coronavirus pandemic relief funds to eliminate residents’ medical debt and ease those debt burdens. (Pratt, 2/15)

The side effects from cancer treatment can be notoriously toxic: nausea, hair loss, pain, and fatigue are among the most common. But the economic burdens of care—known as financial toxicity—can also that threaten patients’ health and well-being. Now, a new analysis published last week in JAMA Network Open quantifies the level of financial toxicity among breast cancer patients worldwide. (Gordon, 2/14)

After passing bills to add more price transparency and end surprise medical billing in recent legislative sessions, this year Colorado lawmakers are once again considering a bill to add more protections for patients. Senate Bill 23-093 does four main things: It caps interest rates on medical bills. It requires more price transparency for people who plan to pay out of pocket. It pauses debt collection on bills that are being disputed. It gives the Colorado Attorney General’s office additional tools to go after predatory practices. (Lopez, 2/14)

A new bill introduced at the Ohio Statehouse already had 30 Republican co-sponsors and could bring more transparency to the state’s healthcare system. The bill’s sponsors, Rep. Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville) and Rep. Tim Barhorst (R- Fort Loramie) said it is modeled after one that went into effect a year ago in Colorado. The Colorado bill was called the Prohibit Collection Hospital Not Disclosing Prices and passed with bipartisan support. The goal of the Ohio legislation is to let patients “know before they go” to the hospital how much they are going to be paying in bills. (Fahmy, 2/14)