Nearly 23,000 Connecticut residents will soon receive a letter in the mail notifying them that some or all of their medical debt has been eliminated, according to the governor’s office.
Gov. Ned Lamont said this is part of a new partnership with a national nonprofit organization that uses public investments to negotiate with hospitals and other providers to eliminate overdue medical debt for people and families.
This applies to patients whose income is at or below four times the federal poverty level or who have medical debt that is 5 percent or more of their income. The current federal poverty level is an annual income at or below $31,200 for a family of four.
There is no application process for the medical debt relief, according to the governor's office.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
Residents whose debt has been identified for relief will receive a letter from Undue Medical Debt indicating which debt or debts have been eliminated.
Letters under this first round will be delivered by mail beginning Dec. 23.
In February, the governor’s office said Connecticut will become the first state to implement a plan that would cancel medical debt for thousands of people statewide under a state law.
Local
This is the first of several expeced rounds of medical debt elimination under this partnership, the governor’s office said.
Lamont said he and the Connecticut General Assembly worked together to make $6.5 million in ARPA funding available for this initiative and his administration intends to continue to partner with Undue Medical Debt for further rounds of medical debt elimination.
Here is a sample of the letter:
