NC Hospitals Must Cancel Your Medical Debt — Here Is What Every Resident Needs to Know

If you have a medical bill you cannot pay — or if fear of medical bills has kept you from getting care you needed — this post is for you.

The Law Changed. Do You Know Your Rights?

Effective July 1, 2025, North Carolina hospitals participating in Medicaid are legally required to cancel all unpaid medical debt for patients at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. A single person earning up to $30,120/year qualifies. A family of 4 earning up to $62,400 qualifies. Hospitals cannot send you to collections. They cannot garnish your wages. You do not have to apply — they are required to identify and cancel eligible debt automatically.

Governor Cooper announced in October 2025 that over $6.5 billion in medical debt had been erased in NC. But millions of residents still carry debt they are legally entitled to have cancelled — simply because they do not know the law changed.

Three Ways Medical Debt Hurts Communities

1. Avoidance: People with medical debt skip necessary care to avoid more bills — leading to costlier emergencies later.

2. Credit destruction: Medical debt on a credit report blocks housing, employment, and loan access for years.

3. Mental health impact: The stress of unpayable debt contributes to anxiety, depression, and trauma — especially in households already managing poverty and instability.

What LVCM CDC Is Doing About It

LVCM CDC's Healing Without Debt initiative — delivered through Health in the Streets — brings medical debt education, screening, and navigation directly to the communities most affected. At every Health in the Streets activation across Greensboro's 21 Greensboro Housing Authority communities, trained navigators screen every attendee, educate residents on their NC legal rights, and connect them to hospital charity care applications, Legal Aid of NC, and the Dollar For national debt relief program. Every case is documented for advocacy — because we need the data to hold hospitals accountable for compliance.

What You Can Do Right Now

Check your income against the FPL thresholds above. If you qualify, contact your hospital's billing department and ask specifically about the NC Medical Debt Relief Program and charity care. If your debt has already been sent to collections or your wages are being garnished, call Legal Aid of NC — Greensboro at 336-272-0148. And come to a Health in the Streets event — see our Events page for upcoming dates in Greensboro and Winston-Salem. You should not have to carry debt for getting the care you needed. The law is on your side. LVCM CDC is here to make sure you know it.