Medical Debt Advocate

Job Description

Job Description

The Opportunity

The Medical Debt Advocate will advance HLA's critical mission by working with our attorneys to serve clients struggling with unaffordable medical bills. About one in twenty (1 in 20) Massachusetts residents have medical bills in collections, but that burden is not carried evenly. Communities of color have much higher rates of medical debt in collections (6.3%) compared to majority-white communities (3.9%). Medical debt causes people to delay needed care and can hurt families' financial health years after incurring the debt. HLA tackles medical debt through a multi-pronged approach :

• Individual advocacy for people with unaffordable medical bills,
• Engaging with community-based organizations (CBOs), particularly those primarily serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), to address medical debt among their community members and identify local drivers of medical debt and other trends, and
• Collaborating with other advocates to advance a community-informed policy agenda that aims to reduce the causes and consequences of medical debt, as well as ensure private and public enforcement of existing legal protections.

The ideal candidate will have strong verbal and written language skills in English and Spanish or English and Portuguese and have experience working with clients in vulnerable situations who face challenges to accessing public benefits or services. This position will report to a Supervising Attorney.

Responsibilities

Work with HLA attorneys to advocate for clients with medical debt (65%)

Project management, community engagement, training, and policy advocacy (30%)

Contributing to agenda-setting, facilitating and / or presenting, and taking notes during internal and external meetings;

Engage with prospective client casesduring intake and case assignment processes.

Identify patterns of problems across cases and participate in strategy development with the HLA team and partner organizations.

Administrative support and internal engagement (5%)

Qualifications

All HLA employees are expected to have the skills to :

Additional qualifications specific to this position are :

Salary Range

59,300 - $64,000

Benefits

401(k) or Roth 401(k) retirement plans with a variable employer contribution. Employer contributions start after one year of service.

HMO and PPO Options with a generous employer contribution.

20 vacation days per year

Life insurance at 2x your salary with a maximum of $400,000. The benefit is doubled in the event of accidental death.

If you obtain health insurance elsewhere (typically through a parent, spouse or domestic partner), you are eligible for a taxable reimbursement.

150 per year

Up to 12 weeks of protected leave to bond with your new child

To Apply

Our standard process is for applications to be submitted online at : https : / / hlainc.efficientapply.com / jobs / where you will upload a resume and cover letter. A cover letter is required.

If this process is not accessible to you, please contact hr@hla-inc.org or 617-275-2985.

HLA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all identities with regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, and many other factors. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive work environment where all team members are encouraged to be their authentic and whole selves.