Fourteen years ago, Dennis Thomas received a heart transplant. 10 years later, he was diagnosed with colon cancer.
“You can’t worry about what the house is, your car, your payments–you can’t do any of these things without your health,” Thomas said.
Today, Thomas has his health, but not without over $10,000 of debt incurred from medical hardships that hampered his ability to live.
“I look very healthy, but I fight for my life each and every day, and I have steps that I have to follow and debt that I have to eventually pay for,” Thomas said.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
On Thursday, lawmakers and healthcare leaders met to discuss Governor Lamont’s proposal that would help people like Thomas by canceling medical debt for eligible Connecticut residents.
“It'll help them get their credit rating, help them get back in the game, help them get their mortgage. All the things that medical debt hands over you,” Lamont said.
The program would invest $20 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds in a nonprofit organization, like RIP Medical Debt, that would work with local hospitals.
Local
“Really, it’s a complement of services and resources we all provide that is really going to help continue to close this gap,” said Jennifer Schneider, regional chief financial officer at Trinity Health of New England.
The legislation was not included in the Appropriations Committee’s proposed budget. State Sen. Matthew Lesser (D-Middletown) said the committee’s priorities were in other areas of healthcare.
“We have a lot of funds right now, but the spending cap limits how much we can actually spend, and so the question is 'where are the biggest priorities for the legislature right now?'" Lesser said.
He said expansion of medical coverage was one of the other areas that took priority for many on the committee at this time.
When the legislation was first introduced, House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford) called the plan a “feel-good proposal that deserves more scrutiny.”
