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Janille Williams wants to buy a house someday \u2014 but first, he has to pay down tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was hospitalized for a blood infection for three months more than ten years ago, and the bill was for more than $300,000,\u201d said Williams, 38, a Fairbanks, Alaska, resident who works as a retail sales manager for AT&T. \u201cI was in the middle of changing jobs, the only time in my life I haven\u2019t had health insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the bill went to collections, the debt was eventually lowered to about $50,000, he said, an amount that was still not feasible for him to pay.<\/p>\n
Medical debt<\/a> forgiveness, a priority for some lawmakers and advocates, would make a substantial difference to Williams\u2019 credit report and stop the calls from collections agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t give you a choice in the hospital. \u2018If you leave, you\u2019ll die,\u2019 they told me. I didn\u2019t feel like dying,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone should have to go into financial ruin to live.\u201d<\/p>\n Many Americans agree, according to\u00a0a new poll<\/a>\u00a0from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and\u00a0The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a>. According to the survey, about half of Americans say it\u2019s extremely or very important for the U.S. government to provide debt relief for those who have yet to pay off medical treatments.<\/p>\n Especially since the pandemic, an increasing\u00a0number of cities and states<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 including Connecticut,\u00a0New York City<\/a>, New Orleans and Chicago \u2014 are implementing their own versions of medical debt forgiveness. The Biden administration\u00a0recently announced<\/a>\u00a0a proposed rule that would wipe consumer medical debt off most credit reports.<\/p>\n The poll found that support for medical debt forgiveness<\/a> is particularly high in cases where a patient experienced health care fraud. About two-thirds of U.S. adults support medical debt forgiveness if the individual has, for example, been wrongfully billed for services. But majorities of Americans favor relief in other situations, too, such as when the patient has made on-time payments toward an existing loan for 20 years, has large amounts of medical debt compared to their income, or is experiencing financial hardship.<\/p>\n About 6 in 10 people with debt from medical bills favor medical debt forgiveness if the person has large amounts of debt compared to their income, compared to about half of people without medical debt.<\/p>\n Denise Early, 65, an Independent in Omaha, Nebraska, who favors medical debt forgiveness, said she experienced an injury on the job that eventually led to several surgeries she believes should have been covered by workers\u2019 compensation claims, but were not. The costs eventually pushed her to declare bankruptcy.<\/p>\n Early worked as a custodian at a post office, she said, when she suffered an accident. After initial hospital visits and treatments were ineffective, Early eventually received knee and ankle surgeries to address ongoing difficulties.<\/p>\n \u201cI still get bills every day,\u201d Early said. \u201cForgiveness would help clear a lot of my debts.\u201d<\/p>\n Early said she also currently has more than $100,000 in unpaid student loan debt.<\/p>\n Although reducing student loan debt\u00a0has been a focus for President Joe Biden<\/a>, the poll found that Americans are more likely to say medical debt relief should be a government priority. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults said that it\u2019s extremely or very important for the U.S. government to provide student debt relief.<\/p>\n Lesley Turner, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Chicago, who helped craft the poll, said the survey captures a divide regarding who deserves debt relief.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you need to go to the emergency room because of a major health issue, that is much less of an active choice than the decision to go to college,\u201d she said. \u201cEven though, given today\u2019s economy, going to college is in many ways a very important if not essential route to economic mobility and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are all similarly likely to support clearing medical debt if the person experienced fraud, the AP-NORC poll found, though Democrats are more supportive than Republicans in cases where the person is experiencing financial hardship or if the person has large amounts of medical debt compared to their income.<\/p>\n Ed Kane, a 71-year-old Republican from Chicopee, Massachusetts, believes medical debt forgiveness should not be an option. He\u2019s survived multiple medical emergencies \u2014 including heart attacks and cancer \u2014 and credits his employer health insurance for providing good coverage that kept him out of debt.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are starting to become a nation that gives away everything. And I\u2019m tired of it,\u201d Kane said. \u201cI\u2019ve worked hard all my life. I worked two jobs. I had great medical insurance because of it. Everybody can do it; there\u2019s no reason that people can\u2019t reach a higher level than they do.\u201d<\/p>\n Medical debt forgiveness is also a higher priority for Democrats. According to the poll, about two-thirds of Democrats say it\u2019s extremely or very important for the U.S. government to provide medical debt relief, compared to about 3 in 10 Republicans.<\/p>\n Matt Haskell, 24, of Englewood, Florida, a Republican who said he supports debt forgiveness, also has firsthand experience with high medical bills for an unexpected emergency.<\/p>\n Haskell said he was working on cars, some of which were rusty, at the time of his accident. One afternoon, what seemed like a piece of dust got into his eye.<\/p>\n \u201cIt turned out it was a metal flake embedded in my cornea,\u201d Haskell said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know for five days. I went to the ER when I could no longer open my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n From the visit, Haskell said he incurred more than $4,500 in debt.<\/p>\n \u201cI generally think it\u2019s never anybody\u2019s fault when they have a medical condition,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they get cancer or a tumor or have an episode from undiagnosed diabetes \u2014 it\u2019s not someone\u2019s fault if they develop something and now they\u2019re thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. Sign up<\/a> for free today.<\/div>\n