More than 300,000 Illinois residents stand to be cleared of all outstanding medical debt through the creation of the Medical Debt Relief Pilot Program Fund ready to be sent to the governor.

Sponsored by state Sen. Mike Simmons, House Bill 5290 seeks to alleviate medical debt for families across the state residing in households with individuals falling below 400% of the Federal Poverty Level or saddled with medical debt equating to 5% or more of their household income.

While Simmons views passage of such legislation as being long overdue, GOP lawmakers like state Rep. Chris Miller are openly expressing regret and concern about things having come to this.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the program will work with a nonprofit to use $10 million to pay off up to $1 billion in medical debt.