A health advocacy group is launching a first-of-its-kind voting campaign to organize and engage people who are impacted by medical debt.
The effort by Community Catalyst will launch with ads in key battleground states following the presidential debate on Tuesday night, according to plans shared first with The Hill.
The campaign called “I Am A Medical Debt Voter” will center around the stories of people impacted by the medical debt crisis, as well as medical debt resources and tools, through paid media, digital organizing, and in-person events in key states, the organization said.
“Never before has anyone organized this set of voters, but we believe this is a unique moment and that our elected leaders need to hear from the more than 100 million people affected by this crisis,” said Mona Shah, senior director of policy and strategy at Community Catalyst. “We know this issue moves voters and those impacted most could be key voters in this election.”
An estimated 100 million people in the United States have medical or dental bills they are paying off or that are overdue. A study by KFF found people in the U.S. owe at least $220 billion in medical debt, with about 20 million people owing more than $250.
Voters have identified health costs as a priority in this election, and medical debt is an issue being increasingly highlighted by Democrats across the country. An economic plan released by the Harris campaign last month said her administration would work with states to help erase billions of dollars in debt for millions of Americans.
Medical debt relief is a popular policy that’s easy for the public to understand. A June AP/NORC poll showed half of all Americans said it was extremely or very important for the U.S. government to provide debt relief for those who have yet to pay off medical treatments.
Harris has been leading the Biden administration’s initiatives on medical debt relief, including working with credit reporting companies Equifax, TransUnion and Experian to voluntarily remove some unpaid medical debt from people’s credit reports.
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