Scott, Omar, Casar Introduce Legislation to Protect Workers’ Hard-Earned Wages from Medical Debt Collection
WASHINGTON— Today, House Committee on Education and Workforce Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Ranking Member Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), and Vice Ranking Member Rep. Greg Casar (TX-35), introduced the Protecting Workers’ Wages from Medical Debt Act. This bill would prohibit workers’ wages from being garnished to pay for medical debt.
Right now, approximately 100 million Americans are trapped with $220 billion in medical debt. Looming unpaid medical bills can devastate working families, whether they have health insurance or not. Unfortunately, the medical debt crisis has become more dire as millions of Americans are being stripped of their health care due to President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ disastrous “Big, Ugly Bill.”
Over the last several years, new reports of hospitals and debt collectors suing patients for outstanding bills and forcibly cutting their wages to repay the debt have highlighted the predatory nature of wage garnishments.
Currently, federal law allows up to 25 percent of a worker’s take-home pay to be garnished each workweek. Over 30 states have taken action to better protect consumers and have added additional protections to prevent workers’ wages from being unnecessarily garnished. However, when workers are struggling, these constraints are not enough.
The Protecting Workers’ Wages from Medical Debt Act protects workers, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet, by prohibiting wages from being garnished for the payment of medical debt. Specifically, the bill:
- Bans any amount of a worker’s wage from being subject to garnishment for medical debt, and
- Prohibits any state or court from issuing or enforcing a wage garnishment order for medical debt.
“In the richest country in the world, medical debt should not be a threat to working people’s livelihood. The American people should not have to slash spending on necessities to pay for life-saving care and no one should be denied future health care because of unpaid medical bills. Unfortunately, that is the reality many Americans are facing right now,” said Ranking Member Scott. “I am proud to work with Reps. Omar and Casar on this commonsense legislation, which will ensure families are not thrown into further hardship simply because they got sick and needed care.”
“In 45 states, some workers have a portion of their take-home pay forcibly cut to pay off medical debt,” said Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Ranking Member Omar. “I'm partnering with Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) to ban this practice and ensure no worker is thrown into further financial hardship over often-predatory debt.”
“Nobody should lose their wages because they got sick,” said Vice Ranking Member Greg Casar (D-TX). “Trump and Republicans ripped health care away from millions of Americans to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Now families who get sick are being hit with bills they can't pay, and in most states a hospital or debt collector can take a cut of their paycheck before they ever see it. This needs to end, and our bill would stop it.”
The Protecting Workers’ Wages from Medical Debt Act is endorsed by: American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Center for Health and Democracy; Families USA; Public Citizen; and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
To read a fact sheet on the Protecting Workers’ Wages from Medical Debt Act, click here.
To read the bill text on the Protecting Workers’ Wages from Medical Debt Act, click here.
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