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The number of Americans without health insurance dropped by about a fourth from 2019 to 2023, US health researchers said, as the government tried to bolster coverage during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, 25 million Americans of all ages were uninsured, down from 33.2 million in 2019, according to preliminary survey results released Tuesday by the US National Center for Health Statistics. Children without health insurance also declined from 5.1% in 2019 to 3.9% last year. (Nix, 6/18)

Minnesotans with medical debt could see some relief this fall when a new law takes effect designed to boost protections for consumers, so unpaid health care bills don't take a toll on their finances. The "Minnesota Debt Fairness Act," part of a large commerce policy bill at the legislature this year, prohibits reporting to credit bureaus and transferring of medical debt to spouses. (Cummings, 6/17)

For many Hoosiers, the cycle of medical debt is relentless. ... But soon, more than 112,000 people in central Indiana will receive a different letter —one that tells them their debts are paid. United Neighborhood Centers of Indiana and United Way of Central Indiana announced Monday that a staggering $239.6 million for central Indiana residents is canceled. (Spence, 6/18)

Janille Williams wants to buy a house someday — but first, he has to pay down tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt. “I was hospitalized for a blood infection for three months more than ten years ago, and the bill was for more than $300,000,” said Williams, 38, a Fairbanks, Alaska, resident who works as a retail sales manager for AT&T. “I was in the middle of changing jobs, the only time in my life I haven’t had health insurance.” When the bill went to collections, the debt was eventually lowered to about $50,000, he said, an amount that was still not feasible for him to pay. “They don’t give you a choice in the hospital. ‘If you leave, you’ll die,’ they told me. I didn’t feel like dying,” Williams said. “I don’t think anyone should have to go into financial ruin to live.” (Lewis and Sanders, 6/18)