RIP Medical Debt

Link post

1 in every 2 Americans struggles between paying medical bills and affording their basic needs. Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in America and it is estimated that one in three, over 100 million Americans struggle with medical debt. As someone with endometriosis, I have experienced medical debt myself. As a social work student at Columbia University, I know the toll that medical debt takes on my clients.

disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this organization, I’m sharing this voluntarily but I know of their work and thought it would be of interest to the EA community.

RIP Medical Debt is a nonprofit that buys debt for pennies on the dollar and eliminates this debt for families in need, no strings attached. Families are chosen based on data: households that earn less than 4x the federal poverty level (varies by state, family size) or whose debts are 5% or more of annual income are the organization’s priority. On average, every $100 donated clears $10,000 in medical debt.

Medical debt is an important issue for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses who are more likely to visit medical providers, need specialized treatments, and overall have a higher burden of care compared to individuals in good health. Many patients with medical debt will avoid seeing medical providers and delay important screenings because they are scared of incurring more debt.

I have linked some resources below for anyone interested in learning more about medical debt and the toll that it takes on people. Looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts!

https://​​www.cssny.org/​​news/​​entry/​​predatory-medical-debt-collection-practices-by-hospitals-must-end

https://​​pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/​​22352364/​​ (The Intersection of Medical Debt and Predatory Lending among Hispanics)

https://​​nonprofitquarterly.org/​​eliminating-healthcare-debt-a-liberatory-approach/​​