End Medical Debt Maryland

End Medical Debt Maryland is a statewide coalition of 60+ organizations and community members working together to pass comprehensive medical billing reform, educate Marylanders on their rights as patients, and eliminate barriers to healthcare.

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Did you know...

1. All Maryland hospitals are required to offer FINANCIAL AID to their patients?

• Each hospital has a different financial aid application process. You need to provide some personal financial information to qualify. Call your hospital’s billing office immediately and ask to begin your financial aid application.
• You can file an application for financial aid even after treatment.
• If you are denied financial aid, you can appeal the decision.
• You can delay paying your hospital bills until you find out if you qualify for financial aid.

2. You can NEGOTIATE your hospital bill?

• It may be a complicated process, but there are free lawyers who want to help you do it. Call Civil Justice at 410-706-0174 or call the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service at 410-547-6537.
• If you plan to negotiate your bill, do not use a credit card to pay your hospital bill. Using a credit card takes away your ability to negotiate for a lower bill, and you will be required to pay the original amount.
• Your hospital will provide a payment plan so you can pay your bill over a longer period of time, but you have to ask for it. Do not agree to a payment plan you cannot afford.

3. A hospital cannot send you away from the EMERGENCY ROOM because of unpaid bills?

View Medical Debt Protections: A Guide to Your Rights from the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, one of EMDMaryland's partner organizations.

This is information hospitals DON'T want you to know!

Our goal is to get the word out to make sure that every Marylander knows that they have options and rights when the hospital bill arrives.

Would you like to share this information with your community? It could be as simple as taking "Know Your Rights" flyers to work or to church with you! Click here to get started.

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In the state of Maryland, hospitals are allowed to sue patients over outstanding medical bills. And most of them do, even your friendly local community hospital that takes great pride in the "charity care" it provides to your community. From 2009-2018, Maryland hospitals sued 145,746 patients, with the median amount of those lawsuits being only $944.

Nobody chooses to have medical debt, and Maryland hospitals should not be allowed to prey on patients in this way. The EMDMaryland coalition formed in late 2020 to fight these predatory hospital practices.

In spring 2021, EMDMaryland successfully passed the Medical Debt Protection Act of 2021 (HB 565 / SB 514) which gave patients new protections against some of the most predatory hospital practices.

Because of this new bill —

• Hospitals cannot put legal claims (“liens”) on patients’ homes over medical debt,
• Hospitals cannot take the wages (“garnish wages”) of patients who qualify for free or reduced-cost care,
• A state agency is required to develop guidelines for hospitals to establish income-based debt repayment plans, so patients can pay down their debts over time in manageable amounts, and
• Hospitals are not allowed to sue patients for medical debt until these guidelines are created (estimated completion date is mid-2022).

But the the work continues!

Complete the individual sign-on or organizational sign-on forms to show your support and continue the fight to expand and extend these protections for Marylanders!

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Contact: Brig Dumais, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, brigette.dumais@1199.org