Two prominent progressive lawmakers, the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and California congressman Ro Khanna, revealed on Wednesday a new bill aimed at eliminating medical debt.

The bill, introduced with Oregon senator Jeff Merkley and Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, would create a federal grant program to cancel all existing patient debt and amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to block creditors from collecting past medical bills. The legislation would also update billing requirements for medical providers and alter the Consumer Credit Reporting Act to prevent credit agencies from reporting information related to unpaid medical bills, alleviating the risk of such debt damaging patients’ credit histories.

Sanders and Khanna described the legislation as vital for many families’ financial security, as millions of Americans struggle with the burden of medical debt. According to a 2022 investigation by NPR and KFF Health News, more than 100 million Americans, including 41% of adults, hold some kind of healthcare debt. A KFF analysis of the Census Bureau’s survey of income and program participation suggests that Americans owe at least $220bn in medical debt.

“This is the United States of America, the richest country in the history of the world. People in our country should not be going bankrupt because they got cancer and could not afford to pay their medical bills,” Sanders said in a statement.

When Sanders ran for president in 2020, he vowed to eliminate medical debt if elected. Now, as the chair of the Senate health, education, labor, and pensions (Help) committee, Sanders has worked with Khanna for over a year to introduce a bill that could make his campaign promise a reality.

“No one in America should face financial ruin because of the outrageous cost of an unexpected medical emergency or a hospital stay,” Sanders said. “The time has come to cancel all medical debt and guarantee health care to all as a human right, not a privilege.”

In an interview with the Guardian, Khanna said he had spoken to many Americans bearing the financial brunt of this problem. One woman who met with Khanna showed him several hundred pages of medical bills that she received, while another person shared a story about their mother incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt after suffering a stroke.

The burden of medical debt appears to disproportionately fall on certain marginalized communities in the US. The KFF analysis found that those with a disability were more than twice as likely to have medical debt compared with those without a disability. While 7% of white adults and 8% of Hispanic adults said they carry medical debt, 13% of Black Americans reported having unpaid medical bills. According to a separate study published in the journal Health Affairs in 2016, approximately one-third of cancer survivors had gone into debt as a result of their diagnoses, and 3% had filed for bankruptcy.

“I’ve met people who say they’re just resigned to having this debt ruin their credit, and they don’t pay it, but they have this kind of harassment and anxiety while they’re dealing with a chronic condition like cancer or diabetes,” Khanna said. “The amount of stories that people share about this have really startled me.”

Sanders and Khanna’s bill may face a difficult journey to passage in the Republican-controlled House, but polls suggest that cancelation of medical debt attracts widespread support from members of both parties. According to a YouGov survey conducted in 2022, 66% of Americans – including 56% of Republicans and 85% of Democrats – support some relief to those with medical debt.

“People in America don’t think you should go into debt because you go to see a doctor or go to the emergency room,” Khanna said. “It’s kind of human decency.”

The legislation could also provide a political boon for Democrats among young voters, who have expressed decreased enthusiasm about this presidential race after helping Biden get elected in 2020. According to a March survey conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, Joe Biden continues to lead Donald Trump among likely voters under 30, but just 44% of the president’s young supporters say they enthusiastically back their candidate. In comparison, 76% of the former president’s young supporters report high levels of enthusiasm about their candidate.

Khanna believes that the medical debt cancelation bill could mark one important step in re-energizing young people ahead of November. The Harvard-IOP poll showed that 59% of young voters under 30 named healthcare as one of their top two priorities, only behind inflation.

“We’re finally going to get rid of any healthcare debt that you have. We’re going to fight for Medicare for all,” Khanna said. “And we’re going to continue to work to eliminate your student loans. That is a winning message to young people.”