(The Center Square) – Cook County and state of Illinois officials gathered Thursday to announce roughly $1.4 billion in medical debt has been cancelled through both a state and local program for Illinois residents, but studies show that such programs may not always be beneficial.
Illinois taxpayers footed the $10 million bill to cancel the debt of about 694,000 residents, with the program costing pennies on the dollar for the state to purchase medical debt that is either about to or already has been sent to a collection agency…