Full Text of HR0907 102nd General Assembly
HR0907 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to commend Cook County Board President | 4 | | Toni Preckwinkle on the occasion of the Cook County Board | 5 | | using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to pay off medical | 6 | | bills of Cook County residents; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Medical debt is the leading contributor to | 8 | | personal bankruptcies; according to the Consumer Financial | 9 | | Protection Bureau, somewhere between 17% to 35% of American | 10 | | adults have medical debt; of those percentages, Black and | 11 | | Hispanic people, young adults, and low-income individuals have | 12 | | higher rates than the national average; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Addressing medical debt is an urgent priority, as | 14 | | medical debt can also lead people to avoid medical care, | 15 | | develop physical and mental health problems, and face adverse | 16 | | financial consequences, including lawsuits, wage and bank | 17 | | account garnishment, home liens, and bankruptcy; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Creditors, such as hospitals, ambulance | 19 | | operators, or private doctors, write off debts after a few | 20 | | years, and some put them up for sale to third-party collection | 21 | | agencies, which can buy millions of dollars' worth of charges | 22 | | at a fraction of the original cost in the hopes of collecting |
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| 1 | | on at least some past-due bills; the older the debt, the | 2 | | cheaper it is to buy; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Under President Preckwinkle's guidance, Cook | 4 | | County government will pay the nonprofit group RIP Medical | 5 | | Debt $12 million over the next three years to buy medical debt | 6 | | accumulated at hospitals across Cook County for pennies on the | 7 | | dollar; the money to pay RIP Medical Debt comes from Cook | 8 | | County's pool of $1 billion in ARPA funds; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Rather than attempt to collect on the debt, RIP | 10 | | Medical Debt will forgive it and work to have that debt erased | 11 | | from credit reports; Cook County hopes to abolish $1 billion | 12 | | in medical debts that could date back years; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Eligible individuals will be Cook County | 14 | | residents who have a household income less than four times the | 15 | | federal poverty level or have medical debts that are 5% or more | 16 | | of their annual income; debt accounts will be anywhere from 18 | 17 | | months to seven or more years old; debtors will not need to | 18 | | apply to get the relief, and that debt forgiveness will not | 19 | | count against them when they file their taxes; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Cook County expects hundreds of thousands of | 21 | | residents to get debt relief over the three years of the | 22 | | arrangement with RIP Medical Debt; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, While the two hospitals Cook County runs, Stroger | 2 | | and Provident, are not eligible to participate in the county's | 3 | | program due to ARPA spending restrictions, RIP will use | 4 | | privately fundraised dollars to support any debt relief | 5 | | associated with the Cook County hospitals; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, President Preckwinkle hopes the medical debt | 7 | | abolition program will help improve families' long-term | 8 | | economic security and encourage people to seek medical care | 9 | | free from worries about being pursued for past-due bills; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, President Preckwinkle will be recognized | 11 | | alongside other government officials at an event with Gene | 12 | | Sperling, President Joe Biden's ARPA coordinator and senior | 13 | | adviser, for Cook County's creative use of ARPA dollars; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The Cook County Board aims to initiate absolving | 15 | | medical debts in late fall; therefore, be it
| 16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 17 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 18 | | we commend Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on | 19 | | utilizing Cook County's ARPA funds to pay off the medical | 20 | | debts of Cook County residents in order to give those | 21 | | individuals some much needed debt relief; and be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | presented to President Preckwinkle as an expression of our | 3 | | esteem and respect.
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