BUFFALO, N.Y. -- For some New Yorkers right now, there are tough decisions to be made between financial health and their actual physical health.

"I think that medical debt, it's obscene that we have those two words next to each other," state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, D-Queens, said.

Rivera does not believe bills incurred at hospitals and doctors offices should be treated the same way as other debt. Last session, the state Legislature passed Rivera's legislation that would prohibit medical debt from being collected or included as part of consumer credit reports.

"We know the impact that that can have potentially on you being able to get a home, to get a job, to get a bank loan etc., so I am hopeful that the governor will sign it. She has signed some before and we're consistently working with the department of health to be able to better address the issues of medical debt here in the state of New York," Rivera said.

Major national reporting agencies last year voluntarily agreed not to report medical debt under $500.

"Ever since that went into effect we are seeing demonstrable improvements in people's credit scores that they can rent an apartment or get a job so it really makes a difference," NY Health Foundation President & CEO David Sandman said.

According to a NY Health Foundation-funded analysis by the Urban Institute, 6% of all New Yorkers have some level of medical debt reported to a credit agency. Sandman said about half or roughly 340,000 people have more than $500 and would see an immediate impact from the new law.

He said communities of color and low-income individuals are disproportionately affected.

"Hundreds of dollars, maybe $1,000, it's a very small sum say to a hospital but it can be a great deal of money to a low-income person who's struggling to pay off that unexpected bill along with everything else," Sandman said.

Two years ago, the state implemented another law banning debt collectors from garnishing wages or placing liens against property for medical bills.

Sandman believes this is a logical next step.

"We also want to prevent those debts from accumulating in the first place so we should work on continuing to make health insurance more affordable, lower copays, lower deductibles, insuring that hospitals are telling patients about available financial assistance," Sandman said.