Overview
- State officials say the program used a $30 million allocation to purchase and forgive medical bills, with the nonprofit buying debt from providers for pennies on the dollar.
- The relief targets households that earn at or below four times the federal poverty level and owe at least 5% of their annual income in medical bills, and there is no application required.
- Officials have described the $30 million as able to leverage far more in erasures, with program leaders noting the funding can erase multiples of its cash value.
- Recipients will be notified by mail beginning this week, and beneficiaries report tangible effects such as reduced financial stress and the ability to work on credit recovery.
- The initiative began as a partnership with RIP Medical Debt, now Undue Medical Debt, and officials say the erased amount represents a large share of the state’s previously estimated total medical debt.