Oakland County, Mich., has eliminated more than $6 million in medical debt for about 6,300 residents through its partnership with national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt.
Four things to know:
1. Notification letters began arriving March 9, informing residents their qualifying medical debt had been permanently abolished, according to a March 23 news release from the county.
2. With the latest round, the county has erased more than $15 million in medical debt for more than 20,000 residents since launching the program.
3. The initiative is funded by $2 million from the American Rescue Plan Act and aims to eliminate tens of millions of dollars in medical debt for tens of thousands of residents.
4. Undue Medical Debt partners with hospitals, health systems and debt holders to identify qualifying accounts, which are purchased for pennies on the dollar and eliminated. Eligible residents must earn at or below four times the federal poverty level or have medical debt exceeding 5% of annual income.
The nonprofit organization recently partnered with Illinois to erase $1.1 billion in medical debt for more than 500,000 residents.
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