Medical Debt Initiative
The Barrier
Out-of-pocket health care expenses are one of the most pervasive barriers to health care across Massachusetts and the entire country. One in eight Massachusetts residents carry medical debt. People of color, particularly Black people, and people in low-income situations disproportionately bear the burden of medical debt. Medical debt can prevent people from seeking medical care, lead to worse health outcomes, and negatively impact social determinants of health like food and housing security.
Some of the most common causes of medical debt include not being insured and cost sharing (e.g. deductibles or co-payments). People who have someone uninsured in their family are associated with almost double the rate of medical debt as families where all members were continuously insured.
HLA’s Medical Debt Initiative is one of the busiest areas of our practice, with hundreds of consumers contacting us each year for help protecting them from improper medical billing and collection practices.
Legal Services
We can help with:
- Correcting improper medical billing by ensuring providers bill health plans
- Securing insurance coverage
- Protecting clients from unfair debt collection practices
- Ensuring patients receive forgiveness under legally required financial assistance policies
Capacity Building
Thanks to support from the Atrius Health Equity Foundation, we are able to partner with community-based organizations (CBOs) and Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs) to expand their capacity to assist their clients with medical debt. We provide trainings and resources to equip these organizations with the tools and knowledge they need to advocate for their clients. We also hold bi-monthly office hours to answer questions and provide guidance for CBO and FOC staff on medical debt cases. Learn more about HLA’s medical debt office hours in the Spring 2026 issue of The Docket Newsletter.
Staff Attorney Mindi Greenberg and Medical Debt Advocate Alex Rhoades facilitate a training at the Medical Debt Convening hosted by the Atrius Health Equity Foundation in April 2026.
We are proud to partner with the following community-based organizations:
- Brazilian American Center (Framingham)
- Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (Lowell)
- Immigrants’ Assistance Center (New Bedford)
- Lawrence Community Works (Lawrence)
- The Neighborhood Developers (Chelsea)
- NeighborWorks Housing Solutions (Quincy)
- Pinnacle Partnerships (Brockton)
- Women Encouraging Empowerment (Revere)
- Urban Edge Housing Corp. (Roxbury)
Resources
Need help resolving or understanding medical debt? Visit our contact us page to get in touch with us or check out the resources below.
- Medical bills and debt by Health Law Advocates and Massachusetts Legal Help
- Guide to Resolving Medical Debt by Health Law Advocates
- Navigating Nonprofit Hospital Financial Assistance Programs (FAPs) one-pager by Health Law Advocates
- Debt validation one-pager by Health Law Advocates
- Can a Nursing Home Force a Resident’s Family and Friends to Pay the Bill? by the National Consumer Law Center and Justice in Aging
- Medical Bills: Everything You Need to Know About Your Rights by Community Catalyst and U.S. PIRG Education Fund
Policy Reforms
Our team advocates for policy reforms to lessen the burden of medical debt on Massachusetts residents at a systemic level. We have testified in support of bills that would exclude medical debt from credit reports, improve hospital financial assistance programs, and expand comprehensive health care coverage. We strongly support regulations that will prevent credit reporting and aggressive collections tactics from bringing undue financial hardship onto families across the Commonwealth.
Thank you to our supporters
Our Medical Debt Initiative is supported by the Atrius Health Equity Foundation, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Massachusetts Bar Foundation, the Nord Family Foundation, and the Boston Bar Foundation.