John,

On September 14, my colleagues Bobby Scott, Greg Casar, and Ilhan Omar introduced the Protecting Workers' Wages from Medical Debt Act. The idea is simple, and frankly overdue: amend the Fair Labor Standards Act so no worker's wages can ever be garnished to collect medical debt — and no state or court can enforce such an order either.¹

Because here's where we are right now. In 45 states, a hospital or debt collector can seize up to 25% of a worker's take-home pay — before they ever see it. More than 100 million Americans are carrying $220 billion in medical debt, and more than a third of people with medical debt have cut back on necessities like food to try to pay it down. Hundreds of thousands of families every year file bankruptcy because of medical bills.

It's worth pausing on that phrase, medical bills — because that debt almost always traces back to one thing: Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. They allowed ACA subsidies to expire, which sent premiums up 20% in 2026, and they cut Medicaid, taking coverage away from more than 8 million people. All of it so billionaires could get more tax cuts. When working people get sick and can't pay, the debt collectors move in and the garnishments begin. A rigged system doing exactly what it was designed to do.

I've spent my career in Congress fighting to build the opposite: a system where health care is a right, not something that can be repossessed from your paycheck.

I'm a longtime supporter of Medicare for All — health coverage for every American, with no deductibles, no networks, no collections departments.
Just last month, Senator Sanders and I reintroduced the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, because workers deserve to share in the gains of the productivity that technology creates.²
And I'm cosponsoring the Save MEDICARE Act to claw back the billions of taxpayer dollars that private Medicare Advantage insurers overcharge us every year.³

So why is this garnishment bill a critical piece of the pathway to Medicare for All? Because Medicare for All passes when we build escalating public pressure on every lawmaker, step by step. Supporting it inpolicy polls is not enough. Congress has to vote, on the record, on whether a hospital deserves a quarter of someone's wages more than a family deserves groceries. And support is at its highest ever — 60% of Americans recommend Medicare for All, up from 54% a year ago, including 94% of Democratic voters.⁴

So I'm asking you directly: add your name today. Tell Congress to pass the Protecting Workers' Wages from Medical Debt Act and stand with working people against debt collectors who profit from sickness.

ADD YOUR NAME:
PROTECT WORKERS'
PAYCHECKS FROM
MEDICAL DEBT →

Nobody should lose their wages because they got sick.

Respectfully,
Mark Takano

^{[1] Guardian, 9/14/26 — bill intro, FLSA amendment, 25%/217.50/45-states/100M-220B/premium +20%/8M coverage loss stats

[2] WTTW News, 9/23/26 — Takano & Sanders reintroduction of 32-Hour Workweek Act

[3] Newsweek, July 2026 — Save MEDICARE Act (H.R. 9544) cosponsor list

[4] American Prospect, 9/21/26 — Medicare for All PAC/GQR poll}

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