A grassroots movement called Healthcare Rising Arizona is trying to make a positive change in state healthcare for Arizonans that are affected by debt collection each year.
The movement’s Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act will strengthen Arizona laws, such as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, so that no family will be forced to forfeit their house or car to pay off medical debts. To get the act on the ballot for the midterm elections next year, volunteers are going out into the community to get the required amount of 237,000 signatures that must be collected.
“No Arizona family should lose their home or car, or struggle to put food on the table due to medical emergencies or accidents, or be trapped into unending debt by unfair interest rates on medical care,” said Morgan Tucker, state director for Arizona Protect Our Care, one of the organizations promoting the proposed legislation.
According to Tucker, if the legislation is passed only 10% of paychecks can be garnished to pay off medical debt compared to the current rate of 25%. Additionally foreclosure protections will be upped to $400,000 compared to the current $250,000. Along with this, the value of household goods protected from creditors increases to $15,000, up from $6,000, and vehicles worth up to $15,000 are protected, with disabled driver’s vehicles protected up to $25,000. Arizona law currently protects up to $300 held in a bank account, and with the act it’ll increase to $5,000. Interest rates on medical debt will be limited to no more than 3%, compared to the current 10%.
The Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act adjusts for inflation for the homestead exemption, value of household goods protected, vehicle protections, and bank account protections; the Arizona law regarding debt protection does not currently adjust these amounts for inflation, Tucker said.
“This is something that everyone can appreciate, it's nonpartisan, everyone has to deal with healthcare sooner or later, and if you haven’t yet you know someone who has,” said Terri Streich, volunteer of Healthcare Rising Arizona.
The initiative has volunteers that go to events all over Arizona to collect signatures, but also to inform and educate.
“We have volunteers that make their houses a hub, like I have, in which we can advertise the act and people can come by and sign the petition, they don’t even have to get out of their cars,” Streich said.
While the organization is nonpartisan, Streich says there are politicians either running for office or currently in a position of power that support the Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act.
“Currently we are working on endorsements, but we do have a couple candidates that are members of our organization because they support it for one reason or another,” said Celina Washburn, an organizer of Healthcare Rising Arizona.
The act has endorsements from many politicians and organizations from all over Arizona. Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Rios, D-AZ, Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, D-AZ, the Arizona Students’ Association, and many more have expressed their support for the organization and its goal.
Healthcare Rising Arizona is doing its part to try and protect Arizonans from predatory debt collection, but thousands do not realize what predatory practices debt collection agencies are using, and how most of them are illegal.
Following the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act closely, Arizona prohibits threats of any kind from debt collectors and calls before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm. Requests can also be made to arrange specific times that collectors are allowed to contact you, said Mark Cussen, writer and financial planner of Estate Planning Team.
Brooke Steeves said she experienced every illegal predatory practice from a debt collection agency in her early twenties over a $200 medical bill.
“I was threatened with everything but physical harm,” Steeves explained, “I received calls from a man pretending to be a lawyer with a firm that didn’t exist at ridiculous times of the night for weeks.” According to Steeves, the man threatened that he would sue her and her family, take her home, get her fired, and have her arrested.
While Steeves was capable of paying off her medical debts with the help of her parents, not everyone is able to do the same. During the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2020, over 14,000 individuals filed for bankruptcy, according to Tucker.
Debt collectors’ practices can vary widely based on the amount of debt that is being collected and the collection effort that has happened previously, Cussen believes.
“If a debt collector has tried to call someone for five years and could never get hold of them, then if they finally get a hold of that person after five years they’re probably going to be aggressive,” Cussen said.
Collectors who represent an agency like the IRS are typically going to be “pretty aggressive,” according to Cussen, because they have the IRS backing them.
While it is not known just how many agencies practice illegal predatory debt collection practices, the Federal Trade Commision (FTC) that protects consumers by stopping illegal practices in the marketplace, received close to 1,897 complaints from Arizona consumers about debt collectors, Tucker said.
Information is readily available on the internet, according to Cussen, for people to be able to research their rights as a consumer so they can be prepared in the case if a debt collection agency ever tries to use unlawful practices.
“There’s a lot of things that you can do to protect yourself from unscrupulous predators,” Cussen said.
In the event that an agency does break the law by infringing on the rights of a consumer, Cussen said that consumer has every right to turn the agency’s information into the Federal Trade Commision and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Mark Cussen, who is not affiliated with Healthcare Rising Arizona, said he would definitely be in favor of how it would strengthen laws already in place.
Cussen added that “it would be nice to see more substantial penalties levied against companies that use predatory practices, ideally I’d like to see those penalties paid to the people they’re doing it to, it’d be the best form of justice.”
Most consumers with debt are not financially able to pay it off, which results in a debt collection lawsuit involving an agency suing that person, Morgan Tucker said.
In most cases, consumers involved in these lawsuits are unable to have adequate representation, according to Tucker, and in some cases may not even be aware that a debt judgment has been filed against them until their wages or bank accounts are garnished.
“Experiencing medical debt is such an anxiety-inducing situation that often leaves you feeling hopeless and depressed. Most people don’t have a source of financial support to fall back on, and it leaves you wondering how in the world you’ll ever come up with the money to pay it off while still managing to pay rent, food, and the basic necessities,” Brooke Steeves said.
While Tucker said Health Care Rising Arizona does not release its progress on the signatures received so far, she is confident that the required amount will be met, and from there the fate of the Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act will be in the hands of all Arizonans in the midterm elections next year.
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