Tell your representatives to support legislation that will help Michigan families afford their medical bills!
Senate Bills 701-702 would:
- Cap interest and late fees on medical debt at 3% per year.
- Create a 90-day grace period before bills gain interest.
- Stop creditors from taking extreme actions against people enrolled in certain payment plans.
These bills are bipartisan and passed the Senate unanimously. Now is the time for our representatives to follow suit.
Use the email template below to email your Representative.
Dear [LEGISLATOR NAME]
My name is [YOUR NAME], and I live in [TOWN/CITY], MI. As your constituent, I ask that you help protect Michiganders from the long-term harms of medical debt by passing SB 701-702.
More than 700,000 people across Michigan are burdened with medical debt. With wages stagnating and the cost-of-living rising, households are already struggling financially, and less than a third in the Great Lakes region have savings that could cover three months of expenses. For these families, an unexpected medical bill can trap them in a debt cycle that threatens their financial and physical health.
SB 701-702 is a bipartisan package that passed unanimously in the Senate. These bills would:
- Cap interest or late fees at 3% of the medical debt per year.
- Give people with medical bills 90 days before the bills start to gain interest.
- Stop creditors from causing a person’s arrest, foreclosing on their property, or garnishing their wages if they are low-income and enrolled in a hospital’s assistance plan.
The economic burden of uninsured medical care largely falls on taxpayers; when people without insurance end up in the emergency room, public assistance and indigent care programs pay the bill. Even being insured doesn’t protect against medical debt – more than one in ten people with health insurance still have medical debt. By discouraging people from seeking more affordable preventative care, fears about medical debt result in higher healthcare spending and worse health outcomes when people end up in the emergency room.
Please pass SB 701-702 and protect Michigander’s health and financial stability by reigning in medical debt.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
