Overview

• Gov. Josh Stein said notices are beginning to go out, with Undue Medical Debt sending about 255,000 letters this week and hospitals notifying additional recipients.
• The relief surpasses earlier estimates of roughly $4 billion for 2 million people, with an average of about $2,600 erased per recipient.
• All roughly 99 eligible acute-care, rural and university-affiliated hospitals opted in after CMS cleared the plan tying higher Medicaid reimbursements to debt relief and policy changes.
• Hospitals were required to wipe debts dating to early 2014 for Medicaid enrollees and later eliminate other balances based on income, while adopting measures such as automatic charity-care enrollment and limits on collections.
• Officials said the debt will be removed from credit reports and described the model as sustainable, as the health secretary noted the federal shutdown is not affecting the program even as hospital groups warn of broader financial pressures.