North Carolina officials, led by Gov. Roy Cooper, took on the state’s medical debt problem by negotiating with hospitals to relieve patient debt in exchange for public funding tied to Medicaid expansion. Hospitals initially opposed the plan but eventually agreed after federal approval, wiping out billions in patient debt and adopting new standards to prevent crippling bills. The state’s efforts, based on leveraging federal funds, offer a potential model for other states facing similar challenges, despite pushback from the hospital industry. This initiative, spearheaded by the Cooper administration, aims to alleviate the burden of medical debt on millions of North Carolinians.
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How North Carolina Made Its Hospitals Do Something About Medical Debt
