A sweeping medical debt crackdown is now on the mayor’s doorstep in D.C., after a June Council vote advanced a package of protections that advocates say could keep hospital bills from haunting residents for years. The Medical Debt Mitigation Amendment Act would require hospitals to offer lengthy, income-based payment plans, cap interest and collection tools, and block medical debts from being reported to credit agencies, a mix local legal clinics say could keep emergency care from turning into long-term financial ruin for thousands of Washingtonians.
The D.C. Council approved the Medical Debt Mitigation Amendment Act on June 2 and sent the legislation to the mayor later in the month, according to LegiScan. The bill passed unanimously and now awaits executive review before it can take effect.
Under the text of the measure, large health care facilities would have to offer income-based payment plans, including a minimum 36-month schedule with monthly payments that do not exceed about 3% of household income, followed by forgiveness of any remaining balance after 36 payments. The proposal would bar medical debt tradelines from consumer credit reports, prohibit wage garnishments and home liens for medical debt, restrict how hospitals can market medical lending products, and give enforcement power to DC Health and the Office of the Attorney General. For the full breakdown of the requirements, see the bill text on LegiScan.
Who Jennifer Holloway Is
At the center of the push is Jennifer Holloway, 32, the staff attorney who leads Tzedek DC’s Medical Debt Project and served as a key driver of the reform campaign at the Council, according to Cultured. Her Equal Justice Works fellowship at Tzedek DC, along with earlier internships and clerkships, helped build the blend of courtroom experience and policy work she now brings to the fight over medical billing, per Equal Justice Works.
From an ER Visit to Citywide Policy
Holloway traces this work back to a health scare in college, when an emergency room visit led to a cancer diagnosis. That experience shaped her view that, as she put it, “illness is random; which patients get financially ruined over that illness is not,” she told Cultured. The combination of lived experience and legal training now informs both her individual representation of clients facing medical collections and the policy research that underpins the Council bill.
Why It Matters in D.C.
A 2025 report from Tzedek DC estimated that nearly 90,000 District residents carry medical debt and called for systemic reforms that are echoed in the new legislation, according to Tzedek DC. The measure also follows local debt-cancellation efforts: in 2024, the District used public dollars to erase roughly 42 million dollars in medical debt for tens of thousands of residents, as reported by WTOP.
At the federal level, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved in 2025 to limit how medical debt can be reported on credit files, a shift that has helped frame the broader policy debate. For background on that national effort, see the CFPB.
Legal Implications
Lawyers and consumer advocates say the mix of required payment plans, limits on interest, and new caps on collection tactics would force hospitals and debt buyers in D.C. to overhaul how they bill and pursue patients. Large health care facilities would face fresh compliance obligations, while DC Health and the Office of the Attorney General would gain a clearer path to enforcement, a setup that could spark additional policy and legal debates once the rules begin to roll out.
Residents who think they may be covered by the new protections, or who are already facing medical collection actions, can look to local legal clinics for help. Tzedek DC’s newsroom post lays out the bill and lists contact information; the organization’s office is at 4340 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 345, Washington, DC 20008, and intake is available at (202) 274-7386. More details are available from Tzedek DC.
