House Democrats introduced a bill Monday that would prevent workers from having their wages garnished for medical debt collection.
The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to include a ban on wage garnishment for medical debt and prohibit any state or court from issuing or enforcing such wage garnishments.
“In the richest country in the world, medical debt should not be a threat to working people’s livelihood,” said Bobby Scott, a representative, ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce and co-author of the bill, in a statement. “The American people should not have to slash spending on necessities to pay for life-saving care and no one should be denied future health care because of unpaid medical bills.”
Currently under federal law, up to 25% of a worker’s take-home pay can be garnished, or the earned amount above $217.50, which is 30 times the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25 an hour).
At least five states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Delaware, and North Carolina, have already banned wage garnishment for medical debt, and legislators in several states have introduced bills this year to ban or restrain wage garnishment for medical debt.
“In 45 states, some workers have a portion of their take-home pay forcibly cut to pay off medical debt,” said Ilhan Omar, a Democratic representative and co-author of the bill, in a statement. The bill ensures “no worker is thrown into further financial hardship over often-predatory debt”.
Over 100 million Americans face a total of $220bn in medical debt. As many as 550,000 people annually cite medical bills as the reason they filed for bankruptcy.
A 2022 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found more than six out of 10 US households reported cutting back on basic necessities due to medical debt with 48% reporting that they used most or all of their savings to pay their debt. More than one-third of Americans reported skipping medical care in the past 12 months due to the cost, according a 2026 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
A 2023 study found about 1% of American workers are experiencing wage garnishment for debt at any given time, with about 10% of gross earnings as the average garnishment, though it’s unclear how much garnishment was specifically for medical debt.
After the Trump administration allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire, health premiums have gone up 20% in 2026 and are set to increase another 15% in 2027.
More than 8 million Americans have lost health insurance between 2025 and 2026 due to the Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts and subsidy expirations.
“Nobody should lose their wages because they got sick,” said Greg Casar, a Democratic representative and co-author of the bill, in a statement. “Trump and Republicans ripped health care away from millions of Americans to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Now families who get sick are being hit with bills they can’t pay, and in most states a hospital or debt collector can take a cut of their paycheck before they ever see it. This needs to end.”
