A Research Partnership to Address Medical Debt

Medical debt affects millions of Americans, and it’s not just about unpaid bills – it’s about choosing between groceries and a doctor’s visit or dodging calls from collections. But the damage goes beyond finances. Medical debt also erodes something even more critical: trust.

To address this critical issue, the ABIM Foundation has partnered with AcademyHealth on a two-year initiative to explore the prevalence, impacts, and solutions related to medical debt policies in health care systems. By advancing research on trust, we aim to uncover the systemic challenges fueling medical debt and offer actionable strategies to address them.

The collaboration builds on insights from the ABIM Foundation’s June 2024 convening of health care leaders, where experts and advocates discussed best practices and promising approaches to address medical debt in the US. The project will include:

• Conducting an environmental scan of medical debt practices, engaging experts to identify harmful policies and promising alternatives, and disseminating findings through a detailed report.

• Organizing interviews and focus groups with health care leaders to examine how innovative practices are implemented and creating a playbook for system change to guide ethical, patient-centered approaches to medical debt.

We hope that by highlighting ethical practices and giving health care systems tools to implement them, we’re helping to create a culture that values trust, transparency, and patient well-being.

This initiative is one of many steps the ABIM Foundation is taking to build trust in health care and promote a more equitable health system. To learn more about our other efforts, visit www.abimfoundation.org/what-we-do.