Two-thirds of all U.S. bankruptcies stem from medical debt, and one-quarter of all U.S. credit card debt is medical, according to nonprofit RIP Medical Debt.
Since its launch in 2014, organizations have been teaming up with RIP Medical Debt to erase medical debts for local community members. For every $100 donation, RIP Medical Debt forgives $10,000 in medical debt.
The New York City-based nonprofit limits its debt purchases to people who earn less than twice the poverty level, have out-of-pocket medical expenses that total more than 5 percent of their income or face bankruptcy.
Below are five RIP Medical Debt partnerships that raised millions in February, as covered by Becker's Hospital Review.
- Spokane Valley, Wash.-based Valley Real Life’s annual holiday fundraiser raised $300,000, which RIP Medical Debt used to forgive $30 million in medical debt for qualifying individuals in the Pacific Northwest.
- Liquid Church, a church with multiple locations in New Jersey, fundraised money RIP Medical Debt used to wipe out $13.7 million in medical debt for about 3,800 families.
- Broad Reach Benefits and CRISP, two New Jersey-based divisions of insurance broker Alera Group, raised enough money to forgive $1.35 million in medical debt, bringing the company's overall efforts with RIP Medical Debt to a total of about $19 million in relieved medical debt.
- Omaha, Neb.-based King of Kings Church raised $35,000, which RIP Medical Debt used to forgive $7.2 million in medical bills for 2,700 people in Nebraska, Iowa and Arizona.
- Bristol, Tenn.-based Discovery Church raised $10,000, which RIP Medical Debt used to erase more than $1 million in medical debt for more than 500 people in Tennessee and Georgia.