In less than a year, our government’s criminally negligent response to the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over a quarter-million lives. And those who seek treatment are not only up against the horrors of a deadly virus — they risk being buried in medical debt as well. Insured and uninsured patients alike, and even their loved ones, can face tens of thousands of dollars of medical bills.

As talk turns to student debt cancelation, we shouldn’t forget the monstrosity of medical debt in the United States. Pushing for Medicare for All, which would prevent all future medical debt, is essential. But we must also right past wrongs and cancel all existing medical debt, delivering real relief to millions of US workers.

According to a study earlier this year, a third of all US workers struggle with medical debt, a number that’s growing amid the pandemic. Medical debt pushes hundreds of thousands of people into bankruptcy every year and forces families to tighten their spending on essential needs. In a Kaiser Family Foundation/New York Times survey, 70 percent of those struggling to pay medical bills say they cut back spending on food, clothing, or other basic household items. Forty-one percent say they did not fill a prescription in the past year.