CNN - Bernie Sanders teases plan to eliminate billions in medical debt
Updated 8:09 AM ET, Sat August 31, 2019
Excerpt:
Florence, South Carolina (CNN)Sen. Bernie Sanders announced late Friday that he plans to eliminate billions in medical debt, hinting at a proposal the 2020 presidential Democratic candidate's campaign has yet to release in full.
The plan, which the Sanders campaign says would cancel $81 billion in existing past-due medical debt and make changes to the 2005 bankruptcy bill, is not expected to be released in its entirety for another month. The proposal -- which is still in the works, separate from the senator's "Medicare for All" plan and meant to address debt under the current system -- does not explicitly state how Sanders will eliminate medical debt, but says, "under this plan, the federal government will negotiate and pay off past-due medical bills in collection that have been reported to credit agencies."
Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir told CNN on Friday that "Sen. Sanders had previously asked us to pull together a plan to finally end the crisis of medical debt, and when asked directly about it tonight he was honest and candid in previewing his thinking on this important matter."
The outline explains that the full plan will address the components of the 2005 bankruptcy bill that "made it much more difficult to discharge medical debt" and "trapped families with medical debt in long-term poverty." It also promises to "make sure that no one's credit score is negatively impacted by unpaid medical bills."
Later Friday, Sanders elaborated on his thinking while speaking with reporters at a nearby street party following the town hall.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/31/politics/bernie-sanders-plan-eliminate-billions-medical-debt/index.html