Jar of IOUs Policy experts recommend ending the practice of transferring debt to third-party debt collection agencies and instead providing state- or health system-based financial assistance programs for low-income patients. (Photo: Shutterstock)

A new report from the Greenlining Institute finds that COVID-19 has greatly contributed to the problem of medical debt in the U.S., and that communities of color are especially vulnerable to medical debt—just as they are more vulnerable to the pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to worsen health disparities and the burden of medical debt on communities of color,” the report said. “Health care costs due to COVID-19 have already left people in severe debt, and layoffs due to COVID leave historical numbers of people unemployed and uninsured.”

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