- New York City plans to purchase millions of dollars’ worth of medical debt to assist up to 500,000 residents through a partnership with nonprofit RIP Medical Debt.
- The city will invest $18 million to erase over $2 billion in medical debt, aiming to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.
- To qualify for the program, individuals must have unpaid medical bills equivalent to at least 5% of their annual household income or belong to households below four times the federal poverty line.
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New York City is planning to purchase millions of dollars’ worth of medical debt in an effort to assist up to 500,000 residents. Mayor Eric Adams made the announcement on Monday. The city will be partnering with a nonprofit organization called RIP Medical Debt, which buys unpaid medical debt from hospitals at a discounted rate and then eliminates it. To provide relief to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, the city will invest $18 million to erase over $2 billion in medical debt. The program will run for three years and launch early this year, with affected individuals being notified of their debt relief.
Adams emphasized that no one willingly chooses to accumulate medical debt. People seek medical care when they are sick or injured, and no New Yorker should have to make the difficult decision between paying rent and essential expenses or paying off their medical debt.
To qualify for the program, New Yorkers must have unpaid medical bills equivalent to at least 5% of their annual household income or belong to households with an income below four times the federal poverty line, which is $31,200 for a family of four.
Medical debt is a major contributor to bankruptcy cases in the United States, particularly impacting low-income Americans and those without proper health insurance coverage. In December, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a legislation prohibiting healthcare professionals and ambulances from reporting medical debt to credit agencies.
RIP Medical Debt, a charity established in 2014, has already eliminated more than $10.4 billion in medical debt for over 7 million individuals since its inception.