Forty thousand Muskegon County, Mich., residents had debt relieved after a local nonprofit healthcare organization partnered with RIP Medical Debt, mlive.com reported June 5.
RIP Medical Debt partnered with Muskegon-based Access Health, which provides affordable health insurance to those who don't qualify for Medicaid, according to the report. Muskegon County was chosen for debt relief after Access Health was selected for a grant program exploring the community effects of medical debt.
In total, $25 million worth of medical debt was relieved in the county, according to the report.
Nearly one in five Muskegon residents had an average of $467 of medical debt in collections in 2022, according to the report, which cited the Urban Institute.