[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20394]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        MEDICAL DEBT IN AMERICA

  (Ms. KILROY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KILROY. Mr. Speaker, in my district, as in many districts around 
the country, medical debt has been a contributing factor in 
bankruptcies and in foreclosures. In fact, 72 million Americans today 
are affected by the issue of medical debt.
  Another more insidious but also serious issue that arises from 
medical debt, and one that costs our constituents a great deal of 
money, is the issue of medical debt that is paid late or is settled 
eventually, but paid nevertheless, but has gone to collections and is 
reported negatively on a credit report or a score.
  Twenty-eight million Americans pay their medical debt off over a 
period of time. Some of those accrue debt only because of a dispute 
with an insurance company, some of them because of the high cost of 
medical care and high deductibles or caps that have been exceeded in 
the course of the year, some because of job loss. But that negative 
credit score stays with them for years to come.

                          ____________________