Undue Medical Debt, formerly RIP Medical Debt,[1] is a Long Island City–based 501(c)(3) charity[2] focused on the elimination of personal medical debt.[3] Founded in 2014 by former debt collection executives Jerry Ashton and Craig Antico,[4] the charity purchases portfolios of income-qualifying medical debt from debt collectors and healthcare providers, and then relieves the debt.[5] The charity converts every dollar contributed into an average of $100 of purchased medical debt relief. The founders were inspired by medical debt elimination efforts by Occupy Wall Street.[6] As of September 2024, the charity claims to have relieved debts for over 8,570,000 people, totaling over $13.32 billion.[7]
Initial media attention
editThe charity gained attention in 2016 when the TV show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver used them to turn $60,000 into $15 million of debt relief.[8] CBS News Sunday Morning profiled Undue Medical Debt in a long-form journalism piece by correspondent Martha Teichner in the April 16, 2023, episode of the Sunday morning television newsmagazine, in which it was stated that the non-profit charity had already extinguished more than $9.5 billion in medical debt.[9]
High-profile donations
editIn January 2020, professional basketball player Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks donated $10,000 to the non-profit to abolish a total of $1,000,000 in medical debt.[10]
In December 2020, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, who was previously married to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, donated $50 million.[11]
In April 2023, a video of the Trinity Moravian Church of Winston-Salem, North Carolina burning medical debts went viral after they spent $15,000 to acquire and abolish $3.3 million in medical debt. The congregation collaborated with Undue Medical Debt to relieve this debt.[12][13]
In April 2023, Cleveland, Ohio, announced plans to use nearly $1.9 million from the city's American Rescue Plan Act funding to abolish over $200 million in medical debt in partnership with Undue Medical Debt.[14]
In May 2023, Cook County, Illinois, abolished over $280 million in medical debt through a county-wide medical debt relief program in partnership with Undue Medical Debt.[15]
In October 2023, Oakland County, Michigan, announced plans to use $2,000,000 from the county's American Rescue Plan Act funding to abolish a total of $200 million in medical debt in partnership with Undue Medical Debt.[16]
In November 2023, Casey McIntyre made national news after announcing her own death from ovarian cancer on social media and encouraging her followers donate to Undue Medical Debt.[17][18][19] This widespread coverage led to one of the most successful individual campaigns in the charity's history,[17] with nearly $1.1 million donated to an individual campaign in her honor to abolish around $111 million in medical debt.[20]
In January 2024, New York City, New York, announced an investment of $18 million over the span of three years to abolish over $2 billion in medical debt in partnership with Undue Medical Debt.[21]
Criticism
editIn April 2024, the National Bureau of Economic Research released a study questioning the effectiveness of Undue Medical Debt's strategy.[22] After randomly selecting some of 213,000 people with medical debt to work with the nonprofit, researchers concluded that debt relief, on average, did not improve the mental health or credit scores of debtors. They also found that those whose bills had been paid were just as likely to forgo medical care as those whose bills were left unpaid.[23]
Allison Sesso, Undue Medical Debt's executive director, claimed the study was at odds with the feedback the organization typically heard from the people they helped. "We're hearing back from people who are thrilled," she said.[23]
References
edit- ^ "National Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt Announces Exciting Rebrand to Undue Medical Debt". Undue Medical Debt. 2024-04-15. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
- ^ Holpuch, Amanda (2022-12-29). "Medical Debt Is Being Erased in Ohio and Illinois. Is Your Town Next?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ Samuel, Leah (June 6, 2016). "Inside the medical debt charity that John Oliver just made famous". Stat. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Overall, Michael (26 November 2020). "A Tulsa couple we're thankful for tells us how they did it". Tulsa World. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Esch, Mary (December 24, 2018). "Secret Santas: Charity buys and erases past-due medical debt". Associated Press. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "Our Outcomes". Undue Medical Debt. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
- ^ Goldman, David (June 6, 2016). "John Oliver makes 'TV history' by forgiving $15 million in medical debt". CNN Business. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Teichner, Martha (2023-04-16). "RIP Medical Debt: Abolishing crippling health care debts". CBS News Sunday Morning. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- ^ Habersham, Raisa (January 8, 2020). "Hawks player Trae Young cancels $1M in medical debt for Atlanta families". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
- ^ Paavola, Alia (December 16, 2020). "'A game changer': RIP Medical Debt gets $50M donation". Becker's Hospital Review. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
- ^ "We went viral by forgiving millions in medical debt. Here's how". MSNBC. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "A church is canceling people's medical debt for pennies on the dollar. It wants others to join in". CNN. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Cleveland to cancel about $200 million in resident medical debt". Ideastream Public Media. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
- ^ "Cook County Residents See Over $280M in Medical Debt Erased as Part of Medical Debt Relief Program". WTTW News. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
- ^ "Oakland County hopes to wipe out $200 million of medical debt for residents". www.candgnews.com. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
- ^ a b "'If you're reading this, I have passed away': Mom, 38, goes viral for last message, final wish". TODAY.com. 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ Fadulu, Lola (2023-11-19). "A Cancer Patient's Last Wish: To Pay Off the Medical Debt of Others". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Woman Announces Own Death on Instagram in Touching Post: 'I Knew How Deeply I Was Loved'". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Nationwide". RIP Medical Debt. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Mayor Adams to Relieve Over $2 Billion in Medical Debt for Hundreds of Thousands of Working-Class New Yorkers". NYC Gov. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ Kluender, Raymond; Mahoney, Neale; Wong, Francis; Yin, Wesley (April 2024), The Effects of Medical Debt Relief: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments (Working Paper), Working Paper Series, doi:10.3386/w32315, retrieved 2024-04-22
- ^ a b Kliff, Sarah (2024-04-08). "Paying Off People's Medical Debt Has Little Impact on Their Lives, Study Finds". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-22.