Putting Patients First — For Real

Every so often, a healthcare headline actually feels like good news.

This week, Becker’s Hospital Review highlighted New Jersey’s decision to eliminate $86 million in medical debt for residents across the state. No complicated applications. No fine print. Just debt erased for people who needed relief.

That matters.

Medical debt is one of the clearest signs that the system has drifted away from patients. People don’t end up buried in bills because they made poor choices — they end up there because pricing is opaque, coverage is confusing, and care is often disconnected from real-world affordability.

What New Jersey did won’t fix healthcare on its own. But it does something important: it acknowledges that the problem is systemic, not personal. And it treats patients like people, not line items.

We need more policies — and more care models — that start from that same assumption.

Healthcare works best when the goal isn’t maximizing complexity or shifting risk, but removing barriers and restoring trust. This move is a reminder that putting patients first isn’t a slogan. It’s a set of choices.

And this was a good one.