Marriage Ends, Medical Bills Begin
TL/DR –
Debbie Smith, a 69-year-old resident of Alamance County, North Carolina, is struggling with medical debt after leaving an abusive marriage and staying in a hospital. Smith, who lives on $1,108 per month from Social Security, has $1,018 going towards her rent at a group home and $95 towards a storage unit, leaving her with no disposable income to cover her medical bills. However, Governor Roy Cooper’s medical debt forgiveness program could provide relief for Smith and others like her, as he has called on hospitals in the state to forgive $4 billion worth of medical debt for around 2 million lower income North Carolinians.
Debbie Smith, a resident of Alamance County, is among the 3 million North Carolinians grappling with medical debt. She discussed her ordeal of debt and expectations for change with Cardinal & Pine.
In October last year, an ambulance arrived at Debbie Smith’s residence to transport her to Alamance Regional Medical Center.
Smith, then 69, was not ill but escaping her threatening husband in a marriage of over 20 years. As he possessed firearms, her psychiatrist, who had informed the police about Smith’s situation, advised her to leave home.
Police, along with Adult Protective Services, visited Smith several times and helped her leave her home when she expressed the need to.
Smith was in the hospital for five days, spending her nights in a cot in a hallway outside the ER due to lack of rooms. Post hospitalization, she lived in a motel for five nights, supported by her family and a local church. Currently, Smith resides in a group home in Alamance County, while dealing with a $600 medical bill from her hospital stay.
The burden of Smith’s debt
Smith receives $1,108 monthly from Social Security, of which $1,018 covers her group home expenses, and $95 goes for her storage unit. The leftover amount isn’t sufficient for basic necessities, let alone her medical bills.
She exhausted her savings to pay off the debt and buy prescription medicines. Smith managed to pay off $200 of her hospital bill before it was passed on to Wakefield, a medical debt collection agency, due to her inability to continue payments. Debt has hindered Smith’s ability to purchase essentials.
Medical debt forgiveness in North Carolina
On July 1, Gov. Roy Cooper announced a debt forgiveness plan for 2 million lower-income North Carolinians by hospitals in exchange for increased funding from the federal government through Medicaid expansion program.
Hospitals are currently identifying eligible beneficiaries. From January 1, those who are homeless, enrolled in Medicaid, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be eligible to receive free or reduced-cost care.
By July 1, 2025, medical debts of those enrolled in Medicaid, SNAP, and WIC will be forgiven. Hospitals participating in Cooper’s program will then adhere to new debt collection practices, including new standards for when debt is turned over to creditors.
Vice President Kamala Harris collaborated with Cooper to develop the plan and pledged to cancel additional medical debt if elected president.
Smith supports the debt forgiveness program and believes it could save lives, including hers.
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