EXCERPT:
DEESE: “Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to the White House for this important and significant set of announcements. It’s great to be with all of you today to talk a little bit about how we as an administration can alleviate the burden of medical debt for American families. I want to start us off and frame this issue by centering on a core point that will animate everything that we talk about today. Stamping out medical debt is as good for families as it is good economics. Medical debt is unlike other forms of debt in our society. And that’s because in most cases we don’t choose when and how to accrue it. When that terrible moment comes, when you’re in the hospital facing an acute threat to your health and your family’s health, you rarely have the ability to choose how much care to receive based on its cost. And that reality creates incredibly burdensome and inequitable outcomes. Three quick examples: first, the elderly. Research shows that older adults with medical debt frequently reduce their use of medical care, and this results in a devastating spiral. Further health care challenges, further financial strain and ultimately, higher costs on the health care system as a whole. Women — on average, women in America require more health care and they pay more for it.”