Arizona voters approved a measure designed to reduce interest rates on medical debt, the Arizona Republic reported Nov. 8.
The ballot measure, Proposition 209, puts a 3 percent cap on the interest rate on medical debt and increases the amount of home equity, personal property, assets and income protected from certain creditors.
The measure only applies to new debts, so previously accrued medical debt will not be subject to the 3 percent cap, the newspaper reported.
Critics of the measure said the proposition weakens creditors' ability to collect debts, making them less likely to give out loans in the first place.
By the morning of Nov. 9, 66 percent of the vote in Arizona had been reported, according to The New York Times. Voters overwhelmingly approved the measure, with 72 percent voting in favor of it, and 28 percent voting against it.