Today Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans announced a new program to provide
critical relief from medical debt and the financial hardship it has caused for up to 300,000 Wayne County residents.
The County has teamed up with RIP Medical Debt, a national non-profit organization, that will work
with providers like hospitals, health systems, and physicians groups to relieve debt on behalf of its residents. According to projections, up to $700 million in medical debt could be eliminated for these residents. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to implement a program that could help lift the burden of medical debt,
that has weighed so heavily on some of our residents. Many cannot afford to pay the growing medical bills they face,” said Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans. “It could help them gain financial stability and eliminate the stress of trying to figure out how to pay overwhelming hospital bills.”
To qualify for the program, residents with medical debt must earn at or below four times the federal poverty level or have debts that are 5% or more of their annual income. Funding is made possible, in part, by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Residents don’t need to apply for the program. RIP identifies individuals
who meet the criteria and negotiates with health centers on their behalf to buy the debt in batches. Once this is complete, RIP sends them a letter indicating that their debt has been eliminated.
“Nobody takes on medical debt willingly. They do so because illness or injury drove them to it,” said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Director of Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services. “For many Wayne County residents, that destroyed their credit, leading to mortgages denied and opportunities missed. With this courageous step, Wayne County is stepping in to end that.”
“Medical debt can be crushing, especially once it passes to collection agencies. At the same time, health care providers may never receive any payment for their services. This is a reasonable solution with benefits for everyone,” said Wayne County Commission Chair Alisha Bell. “We’re excited to be standing up our program with Wayne County to relieve the local community of burdensome medical debt,” said RIP Medical Debt CEO and President Allison Sesso. “This collaboration is poised to help those least able to repay their medical debts and relieve a major obstacle to financial and mental well-being. As we secure medical debts to be erased there will be announcements to the community
that debt relief letters are imminent.
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