In 2020, Alexandria Delikat-Hinze broke her ankle. Eight months later, she broke her arm as she tripped and fell while hiking. That broke the bank.
As a graduate student, Ms. Delikat-Hinze was not working and what little health insurance she had through the open marketplace did not cover all her medical expenses.
Her medical debt piled up to $25,000, an insurmountable amount for the now 30-year-old woman. Looking for a job upon graduation was hampered by a poor credit rating. Being able to move forward seemed impossible.
Then, in April, she got a letter in the mail: Her entire medical debt had been paid for by Undue Medical Debt through a partnership with Toledo and Lucas County. The governmental entities had allocated $1.6 million to the nonprofit.
“It was an absolute shock,” said Ms. Delikat-Hinze, a former Toledo resident now living in Columbus. “I was so happy to not have to keep fighting this.
“A big part of why I was trying to get this medical debt paid was to raise my credit score, so I could purchase a house, which I do now own here in Columbus,” she said. “I would say this was absolutely life changing.”