Debt relief letters will arrive over the course of December’s holiday season and into the New Year on a rolling basis due to the size of this relief effort, the system said in a Dec. 13 news release.
Under the guidelines, patients with medical debts that are 5% or more of their annual income or who earn at or below four times the poverty-level income are eligible for relief.
ECU Health’s collaboration with Undue Medical Debt (formerly R.I.P. Medical Debt) precedes the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ medical debt relief initiative, which includes all hospitals in the state and lays out a plan for medical debt relief coupled with changes to Medicaid/Medicare reimbursement policy and financial aid standards in 2025, according to the release.