With Medicaid work requirements set to go into effect in the new year, local healthcare providers are bracing for a sharp increase in the number of uninsured patients.
Among the challenges that might lead to is the worsening impact of medical debt. Now, experts are taking a look at how some strategies — from relieving debt, to preventing it in the first place — might hold up under this new strain on the system.
“When someone has to take on medical debt for the care that they received yesterday, that actually impacts them wanting to seek care tomorrow,” said Steph Willding, the CEO of CommunityHealth, a volunteer-based health center that provides free care to uninsured patients in clinics around Chicago.