Vice President Harris – A champion in addressing the medical debt crisis, reigning in corporate greed

We have a medical debt crisis in this country. It is a crisis that impacts more than 100 million people in the United States – that’s 4 in 10 adults. 

Kamala Harris has consistently advocated for health and economic justice, from her role as California State Attorney General to her positions in the U.S. Senate and as Vice President, by standing up for people and against corporate greed. 

From proposing to eliminate medical debt from credit reports and championing the No Surprises Act, which prohibits surprise medical bills for emergency care, Harris has worked hard to center the people harmed most by the medical debt crisis, including Black and Latinx people, as well as those with lower-incomes. 

As Attorney General of California between 2011 and 2017, Harris investigated concentration in health care markets, laying the groundwork for her successor, Xavier Becerra, to challenge anticompetitive behavior by Sutter Health, one of the largest hospital systems in California.

She also joined other states and the Department of Justice in a lawsuit to block the proposed merger of Anthem and Cigna, two large health insurance companies, and scrutinized practices used by drug companies to extend the market exclusivity of their products. And she was among the first State Attorneys General to oppose Boise, Idaho-based St. Luke’s Health System’s acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group.

And the Biden-Harris Administration has done more to tackle the crisis than any other Administration in history with Vice President Kamala Harris at the forefront and leading those efforts. 

Last September, in response to community-led and informed advocacy efforts, as well as growing pressure from people all across the United States with lived experience demanding action, Vice President Harris held a press call to highlight the medical debt crisis and the Administration’s solutions. Vice President Harris said:

“I have spent my entire career fighting to lower medical bills for families and to protect consumers.  When I was Attorney General of California, I intervened in the merger of hospitals that could have resulted in less competition and increased cost for patients. As a United States senator during the pandemic, I worked to reduce out-of-pocket health care costs. And since taking office, President Biden and I have focused on the burden of medical debt, ensuring consumers know that they have the right to contest inaccurate charges on their medical bills and how to file a dispute; cracking down on debt collectors who threaten, harass, and deceive consumers.  We canceled or refunded about $1 billion in copays for more than one and a half million veterans, and we continue to work to bring down the cost of healthcare.”

Then last month when the Biden-Harris Administration announced a proposed rule that will prevent all medical debt from impacting credit scores it was Vice President Harris who traveled to North Carolina to promote the new action, stating, “No one should be denied access to economic opportunity simply because they experienced a medical emergency.”

In addition, it was Vice President Harris who called on states, local governments, and health care providers to take additional actions to reduce the burden of medical debt for millions of people, building upon the $7 billion in medical debt that is being eliminated by the end of 2026 thanks to the American Rescue Plan. She also called on states to pass legislation or take executive action to expand eligibility for financial assistance and increase screening of patients by hospitals. Actions like these will help prevent the accumulation of medical debt by lowering patients’ upfront health care costs and ensuring that they are not forced to take on medical debt in order to receive care.  

So it is clear that Vice President Harris understands the issue and urgent need for action. And so do voters. Recent polling commissioned by Community Catalyst Action Fund from HIT Strategies found that 75% of voters support removing medical debt from credit reports – and 66% of voters say they would feel more favorable towards a policymaker that supports these efforts.

Vice President Harris has consistently demonstrated her commitment to addressing the medical debt crisis in America. She actively works to curb the harmful practices of private equity and consolidation in our health system that increase costs and reduce the quality of care.

For more than two years, Community Catalyst has been meeting with Administration officials on medical debt, including officials from the Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, CFPB, HHS, Treasury, FTC, IRS, and other agencies.

Here are just a few community stories that demonstrate the broad impact, and support, for action on medical debt. It is critical that policymakers continue to heed their demands to put people over profit.

Margarita Emmanuelli, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, is one of the millions of people whose lives have been upended by medical debt. Margarita shared her story at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus briefing, alongside Community Catalyst and UnidosUS. “The health care industry should work towards rebuilding lives and not bankrupting them,” she shared. 

When Sahida’s husband, Arturo, was diagnosed with epilepsy, the couple was shocked. Then came the $8,000 hospital bill. Sahida now works as a health promoter. Sahida joined Community Catalyst and partners in DC for a medical debt day of action. “What the whole country should know is that health care is not a business. Health care is a right,” she shared.

If you would like to learn more about Vice President Harris’s record on health and economic justice, or the Community Catalyst Action Fund’s policy positions on addressing the root causes of the medical debt crisis, please feel free to reach out. We can also connect you with people impacted by medical debt. 

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About Community Catalyst Action Fund:

Community Catalyst Action Fund builds the power of people to create a health system rooted in race equity and health justice, and a society where health is a right for all. We strengthen the health justice and advocacy movement to achieve community-led political and policy wins that put people over profits. Learn more here.