Toledo OH city council moves to forgive medical debt

[lpetrich]

City of Toledo, Lucas County vote to spend federal money on buying medical debt for residents - WDET 101.9 FM - "$1.6 million investment could save residents as much as $240 million."

Working with an organization called "RIP Medical Debt": Homepage - RIP Medical Debt

When will Toledoans have medical debt relieved? | wtol.com - "Now, the city of Toledo must enter into a contract with RIP Medical Debt. The nonprofit's president and CEO said she is unsure how soon this will happen."

Sesso said RIPMD would likely buy "$100 million in debt, or $50 million in debt" at once.

On average, Sesso said $1 buys about $100 in medical debt. At Sesso's estimated rate $1 million would buy $100 million in medical debt.

The proposal did not pass easily, though. After its introduction on Sept. 13, it stalled for weeks, was held from a vote three times and amended to significantly decrease the ARPA funds contributed to $800,000 before it narrowly passed.

Two communities find a cure for medical debt: pandemic stimulus funds - The Highland County Press - "Local governments in Ohio and Illinois are using American Rescue Plan Act money to relieve residents struggling with medical debt by partnering with an organization that buys debt and wipes the slate clean for debtors. "

Illinois county aims to relieve $1B in medical debt

Officials in Illinois' Cook County hope to use $12 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to relieve more than $1 billion in medical debt, the Chicago Tribune reported July 21.

If approved, the county — home to Chicago — will pay the funds over the next three years to RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit that purchases and forgives medical debt for pennies on the dollar, according to the report.

The program awaits final approval from the Cook County Board of Commissioners, and local hospitals must consent to participate, but board president Toni Preckwinkle said she expects both to happen in time for a late fall rollout, according to the report.

Eligible residents will be those who have a household income less than four times the federal poverty level, or have medical debts that are 5 percent or more of their annual income, according to the Tribune.

 

[lpetrich]

From a year ago:
Stacey Abrams group donates $1.34M to pay people's medical debts : NPR
and
Stacey Abrams Clears Millions In Medical Debt For Residents In 5 States - Essence - "The political powerhouse is turning her attentions toward heath-care costs."

RIP Medical Debt (RIPMD) links to:
RIP Debt turns debt collection on its head, buying up unpaid medical bills : Shots - Health News : NPR

Then describing RIPMD.

... The nonprofit has boomed during the pandemic, freeing patients of medical debt, thousands of people at a time. Its novel approach involves buying bundles of delinquent hospital bills — debts incurred by low-income patients like Logan — and then simply erasing the obligation to repay them.

It's a model developed by two former debt collectors, Craig Antico and Jerry Ashton, who built their careers chasing down patients who couldn't afford their bills.

"They would have conversations with people on the phone, and they would understand and have better insights into the struggles people were challenged with," says Allison Sesso, RIP's CEO. Eventually, they realized they were in a unique position to help people and switched gears from debt collection to philanthropy.

What triggered the change of heart for Ashton was meeting activists from the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 who talked to him about how to help relieve Americans' debt burden. "As a bill collector collecting millions of dollars in medical-associated bills in my career, now all of a sudden I'm reformed: I'm a predatory giver," Ashton said in a video by Freethink, a new media journalism site.