I don’t write about specific political campaign ads very often, but this one happens to be directly related to the healthcare field (namely, medical debt), so it seemed to merit a few words.
About a week ago, Adam Hamilton, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Kansas, came out with a new TV ad featuring one of the former patients who was once sued by his Republican opponent, incumbent Senator (and former OB/GYN) Roger Marshall (the ad starts at 2:26 in the clip posted above).
In the ad, the woman, Meischa Zimmerman, says:
“One evening I see lights. I open the door, and it’s a police officer. They arrested me because I didn’t make a $50 payment to Roger Marshall. I was 8 months pregnant and I said please, do not handcuff me in front of my 2-yr old daughter.
“Roger Marshall preyed on the low-income families of Kansas. The healthcare system is broken…but not for Roger Marshall. He’s absolutely profiting from it.”
Vice President Harris announces actions to protect consumers and reduce hurdles that prevent individuals from receiving relief from medical bills
White House hosts roundtable with Americans impacted by medical debt, including those who received medical debt relief through Biden-Harris Administration actions
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration (the Administration), through the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury (the Departments), along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), released a proposed rule on the No Surprises Act’s Federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) process.
Surprise bills happen when an out-of-network provider is unexpectedly involved in a patient’s care. Patients go to a hospital that accepts their insurance, for example, but get treated there by an emergency room physician who doesn’t. Such doctors often bill those patients for large fees, far higher than what health plans typically pay.
