More Than $42 Million in Medical Debt Erased for Nearly 27,000 Kansans
A civic group bought the debt through the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, and recipients are getting letters saying their old bills are paid.
Photo: Aviper2k7 / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Nearly 27,000 people in Kansas are opening mail this week to find that an old medical bill no longer has to be paid. The Somos Votantes Education Fund, a nonpartisan civic group focused on the Latino community, bought more than $42 million in medical debt owed by 26,926 Kansans, The Beacon reported on October 22.
How it worked
The debt was purchased through Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit that buys medical debt in bulk and forgives it. The Kansas purchase covered all the debt available in the state through Undue. Recipients do not apply; they simply receive a letter saying the bill has been paid off.
- Amount: more than $42 million
- People: 26,926 Kansans in 22 counties, including Johnson and Wyandotte
- Eligibility: Undue buys debt that is at least 5% of a household's annual income, or held by households at or below 400% of the federal poverty level
- Leverage: Undue says a $1 donation typically retires about $100 in medical debt
Morales said her group had already been planning a similar program before the debt became a campaign issue in the state.
The group previously paid off medical bills for 128,000 people in two Nevada counties. Undue says it has bought more than $53 billion in medical debt since 2014.
Honest context
Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. and affects almost a third of adults. Advocates quoted by The Beacon welcomed the relief but cautioned that it does not change how hospitals bill and collect. Matt Keenan of Kansas Legal Services said some recipients may have qualified for hospital financial assistance in the first place.
For the families who receive the letters, though, the effect is immediate: a debt they may have carried for years is gone.
