RIP Medical Debt is a Long Island City–based 501(c)(3) charity[1] focused on the elimination of personal medical debt.[2] Founded in 2014 by former debt collection executives Jerry Ashton and Craig Antico,[3] the charity purchases portfolios of income-qualifying medical debt from debt collectors and healthcare providers, and then relieves the debt.[4] 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.[5] As of March 2024, the charity has relieved debts for over 7,100,000 individuals and families, totaling over $10.4 billion.[6][7]

Media attention

The 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 RIP 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]

Examples

In 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 RIP 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 RIP 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 RIP 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 RIP 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 RIP 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 RIP Medical Debt.[21]

References

  1. ^ "RIP Medical Debt". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Samuel, Leah (June 6, 2016). "Inside the medical debt charity that John Oliver just made famous". Stat. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  4. ^ Overall, Michael (26 November 2020). "A Tulsa couple we're thankful for tells us how they did it". Tulsa World. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  5. ^ Esch, Mary (December 24, 2018). "Secret Santas: Charity buys and erases past-due medical debt". Associated Press. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  6. ^ "RIP Medical Debt and TransUnion Healthcare Surpass $5 Billion of Medical Debt Relieved and Expand Partnership". RIP Medical Debt. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Collecting to Forgive". RIP Medical Debt. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  8. ^ Goldman, David (June 6, 2016). "John Oliver makes 'TV history' by forgiving $15 million in medical debt". CNN Business. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  9. ^ Teichner, Martha (2023-04-16). "RIP Medical Debt: Abolishing crippling health care debts". CBS News Sunday Morning. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Paavola, Alia (December 16, 2020). "'A game changer': RIP Medical Debt gets $50M donation". Becker's Hospital Review. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  12. ^ [hhttps://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/medical-debt-forgiveness-video-church-rcna80856 "We went viral by forgiving millions in medical debt. Here's how"]. MSNBC. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ "Cleveland to cancel about $200 million in resident medical debt". Ideastream Public Media. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  15. ^ "Cook County Residents See Over $280M in Medical Debt Erased as Part of Medical Debt Relief Program". WTTW News. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  16. ^ "Oakland County hopes to wipe out $200 million of medical debt for residents". www.candgnews.com. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ "Woman Announces Own Death on Instagram in Touching Post: 'I Knew How Deeply I Was Loved'". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  20. ^ "Nationwide". RIP Medical Debt. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  21. ^ "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.

External links

Categories