Bill Text: IL HR0907 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Commends Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on utilizing Cook County's ARPA funds to pay off the medical debts of Cook County residents in order to give those individuals some much needed debt relief.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-11-15 - Referred to Rules Committee [HR0907 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HR0907-Introduced.html
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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 14 | WHEREAS, The Cook County Board aims to initiate absolving | ||||||
| 15 | medical debts in late fall; therefore, be it
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| 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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