Hoosiers have an estimated $2.2 billion of medical debt in collections — with even more on payment plans and credit cards. A proposal to introduce consumer protections against medical debt failed to advance in the Senate.

Hoosiers have an estimated $2.2 billion of medical debt in collections — with even more on payment plans and credit cards. A Senate committee approved legislation Wednesday that introduces a variety of consumer protections against medical debt, including how hospitals create payment plans.

There are 58 million Americans carrying some form of medical debt, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Community organizations in central Indiana partnered to relieve more than $200 million in “significant and compounding” medical debt for more than 112,000 Hoosiers. The goal is to alleviate the effect that medical debt can have on individuals, families and communities.

With high health bills drowning patients in debt, some lawmakers want nonprofit hospitals to give away more free care. But experts warn that could wind up being worse for patients.

A screening colonoscopy is supposed to be free, under federal rules. But an Indiana woman still got a $765 bill. For a year and a half, she got no answers why just finger-pointing between the hospital and insurance. She got sent to debt collection. Then, she reached out to a journalist.