A partnership between Cook County, Ill., RIP Medical Debt and UChicago Medicine has relieved $173.3 million in medical debt for more than 85,000 patients.
The relief effort was part of a Cook County initiative that has erased $281.3 million in medical debt from 158,541 residents since the program launched in 2022, according to an Oct. 24 county news release.
UChicago Medicine worked with program administrator RIP Medical Debt to forgive debts from 85,060 patients who received care at University of Chicago Medical Center, University of Chicago Physicians Group and UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Ill., according to the release. On average, each UChicago Medicine patient saw $2,043 in debt relief. About 75% of patient households reported annual incomes below $51,000.
Tom Jackiewicz, president of the UChicago Health System, said the benefit goes beyond financial relief.
"We want to give patients peace of mind to ensure they don’t delay seeking the important medical care they need to stay healthy," he said in the release. "This removes an important psychological barrier, which in turn extends our organization’s ongoing health equity work and patient care mission."