By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Arizonans are likely to get a chance to decide in November whether to provide new protections for themselves against medical and other debt.
Backers of an initiative to make changes in bankruptcy and other laws turned in about 472,000 signatures Thursday to put a series of changes in state law on the November ballot. Only 237,645 of these need to be found valid by state and county election officials to qualify. The measure, if approved, would increase the amount of equity someone could have in a home to keep it from being seized in bankruptcy to $400,000, up from $250,000. And it would mandate annual cost-of-living increases in that figure rather than having to wait for state lawmakers to marshal the votes for future changes.
Current law also allows individuals to keep up to $6,000 in household furniture, appliances and consumer electronics. That would increase to $15,000, also with inflation adjustments. And the protected equity in a motor vehicle would go from $6,000 to $15,000 for most individuals, with the figure going from $12,000 to $25,000 for any debtor or family member with a physical disability.
Separately, the measure would cap the amount of someone's wages that could be attached. And another provision specifically limits the amount of annual interest that could be charged on medical debt to no more than 3%.
"Each one of us is only one major illness away from medical debt,'' said the Rev. Dr. Bill Lyons, with the Southwest Conference of the United Church of Christ.
"More than two thirds of all bankruptcies are tied to medical debt from health care costs, '' he said at a press conference Thursday when the petitions were submitted to the Secretary of State's Office. "And 18% of Arizonans have medical bills that are past due.''
Glendale resident Martha French said health insurance is not always an option.
She said her husband had to wait until he was 65 to qualify for health insurance as she could not afford to have him as a dependent on the coverage she had as a teacher.
Campaign spokesman Rodd McLeod brushed aside questions about the fact that the sponsoring organization, Healthcare Rising Arizona, actually is financed largely by a California branch of the Service Employees International Union.
He said that there are 1,309 "contributing members'' in Arizona who, along with volunteers, gathered about 36,000 signatures. But most of those submitted came from paid circulators.
On Twitter: @azcapmedia
