Institute Launches Medical Debt Know Your Rights Workshops

Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute has announced two virtual “Medical Debt Know Your Rights” training workshops. Medical debt is a top barrier to financial well-being for hard-working Hoosiers across the state, and as a result, the state legislature recently announced that lawmakers will be studying medical debt in this year's interim study session. These policy efforts will be complemented by these workshops, conducted as part of a grant from Health Foundation of La Porte, which will focus on Hoosiers' rights around medical debt, step-by-step strategies Hoosiers can take to potentially reduce their medical bills, ways they can respond to medical bills and debt as well as additional tools to assist them with addressing their healthcare costs. 

The workshops will be hosted virtually, to maximize reach, on Wednesday July 30 10am-12pm (9am-11am CST), and Thursday August 7, 6:30pm-8:30pm EST (5:30pm-7:30pm CST).

“We all want good health for ourselves and our loved ones, but sometimes that is only possible through medical procedures that go beyond the budget of everyday Hoosiers, something that is reflected in the high medical debt rates of Indiana," said Lauren Murfree, Policy Analyst at the Institute. "While policy solutions to this crisis remain critical, my hope in hosting these trainings is that individuals will leave these workshops able to navigate the current maze of regulations and bureaucratic hurdles associated with preventing and responding to medical debt. Many people have said to me that they wished they'd access to a training like this before their own experiences with medical debt, so in that way, our project is also about providing Hoosiers with the strategies they can use now to prevent and address their medical debt, empowering them as we await legislative change.”

De-stigmatization is another goal of the workshop, with Researcher at the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute Zia Saylor noting, "A common myth is that medical debt only impacts low-income Hoosiers; however, in developing the curriculum for this project we have heard from Hoosiers across income brackets who have had heartbreaking experiences with this system of financial drains. We hope that individuals attending the workshops or reading the materials will also feel less alone in their struggle--sadly, this is something that far too many Hoosiers and Americans nationwide struggle with."

At the end of the workshops there will be a half-hour "Question and Answer" period. Staff at the Institute will not be giving out legal advice and could not offer legal guidance on a case-by-case basis but will provide additional insights to questions as they are able to within the workshop's aims of better informing the public of their rights.

Registration for the Medical Debt Know Your Rights workshops can be done at the following links:

• Wednesday July 30th, 10am-12pm EST (9am-11am CST) Training
• Thursday August 7th, 6:30pm-8:30pm EST (5:30pm-7:30pm CST) Training

Recordings of the presentations will be posted following their completion, joining existing materials on the Institute's medical debt information page. For more information about medical debt in Indiana, reports are available from the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute’s medical debt page, and information on the Medical Debt Coalition that the Institute leads within the state can be found on the coalition page.