House Democrats introduced a bill Monday that would prevent workers from having their wages garnished for medical debt collection.<\/p>\n
The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to include a ban on wage garnishment for medical debt and prohibit any state or court from issuing or enforcing such wage garnishments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the richest country in the world, medical debt should not be a threat to working people\u2019s livelihood,\u201d said Bobby Scott, a representative, ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce<\/a> and co-author of the bill, in a statement. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently under federal law<\/a>, up to 25% of a worker\u2019s take-home pay can be garnished, or the earned amount above $217.50, which is 30 times the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25 an hour).<\/p>\n At least five states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Delaware, and North Carolina, have already banned <\/a>wage garnishment for medical debt, and legislators in several states have introduced<\/a> bills this year to ban or restrain wage garnishment for medical debt.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 45 states, some workers have a portion of their take-home pay forcibly cut to pay off medical debt,\u201d said Ilhan Omar, a Democratic representative and co-author of the bill, in a statement. The bill ensures \u201cno worker is thrown into further financial hardship over often-predatory debt\u201d.<\/p>\n Over 100 million Americans face a total of $220bn in medical debt. As many as 550,000 people<\/a> annually cite medical bills as the reason they filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n A 2022 survey<\/a> by the Kaiser Family Foundation found more than six out of 10 US households reported cutting back on basic necessities due to medical debt with 48% reporting that they used most or all of their savings to pay their debt. More than one-third of Americans reported<\/a> skipping medical care in the past 12 months due to the cost, according a 2026 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.<\/p>\n A 2023 study found about 1%<\/a> of American workers are experiencing wage garnishment for debt at any given time, with about 10% of gross earnings as the average garnishment, though it\u2019s unclear how much garnishment was specifically for medical debt.<\/p>\n After the Trump administration allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire, health premiums have gone up 20%<\/a> in 2026 and are set<\/a> to increase another 15% in 2027.<\/p>\n