Data tool designed to help states and localities provide medical debt relief

More than 15 million Americans have medical debt on their credit scores and a collective $49 billion in outstanding medical bills, according to a recent report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Biden-Harris administration announced the elimination of $7 billion in medical debt by the end of 2026 through its American Rescue Plan (ARP) and recently called upon more states and localities to leverage the public funding to alleviate medical debt, which disproportionately impacts people in low-income communities. To help local governments determine the most impactful use for the funding, the Urban Institute launched a data tool designed to provide information about the status and history of medical debt in each locality.

The dashboard provides details such as the percentage of people currently in medical debt and how that percentage has fluctuated over time, with data spanning from 2011 to 2023 for counties and states, according to the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank for economic and social policy.

The tool also shows the median medical debt in collections and the average household income in each area. “Potential debt drivers,” such as hospital concentration and hospital closures and mergers, are also available for each locality to see, as is the percentage of people who are uninsured.

For example, the dashboard found that in Haskell County, Texas, 20% of residents lacked health insurance in 2022, data that could potentially help explain the area’s high number of residents experiencing medical debt.

Medical expenses are currently the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. and eliminating outstanding debt can have huge impacts for communities, according to the Biden-Harris administration.

“Because past-due medical debt is frequently available for purchase at a discount, states and localities are often able to purchase this debt for pennies on the dollar,” the administration added in a statement.

Pittsburgh, Pa., used its ARP funding to purchase and discharge $115 million in medical debt in August 2023, impacting 40,000 residents.

“Providing relief at this scale, where $1 can discharge up to $115 of burdensome medical debt, is plain common sense,” Pittsburgh City Councilman Bobby Wilson said in a statement at the time. “Coming out of a global pandemic, Pittsburghers deserve such direct relief.”

Cleveland, Ohio, was also highlighted by the Biden-Harris administration for its elimination of $81 million in medical debt last year. The city is on track to eliminate an additional $100 million in medical debt for its residents by the end of 2024.

“Unlike other debts, medical bills are rarely something people can plan ahead or shop around for,” Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb stated. “No one should feel like they are being punished for getting sick and the immediate relief this program provides will be widely felt.”

The Urban Institute’s dashboard can be accessed at this link.