A state House bill that originally sought to relieve some Pennsylvanians’ medical debt now has a different goal: making it easier for those in need to access health care financial-aid programs.
Patient advocates acknowledged that they wished the bill, which was amended in a Wednesday meeting of the state House Health committee, still offered direct relief for indebted households. But they said the new version still represented an improvement on the status quo.
“While definitely it would have been amazing to keep the relief portion in the bill — something that could obviously help people with existing debts — we’re still really happy to see that some form did pass,” said Jessica Foster,…
