Sixty-six percent of U.S. bankruptcies are linked to medical debt issues, and 25 percent of U.S. credit card debt is medical debt, according to New York City-based RIP Medical Debt.
Organizations partner with RIP Medical Debt to help relieve this burden for people who earn less than twice the poverty level or have debts of 5 percent or more of annual income.
For every $1 donation, the organization forgives $100 in medical debt.
Six recent partnerships with RIP Medical Debt:
1. Jackson, Miss.-based The Word Center Church canceled medical debt for 955 people in the state, with assistance of up to $11,000.
2. Fair Fight — a voting rights organization founded by former Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams — eliminated $212 million of medical debt for 108,000 people in the south.
3. Orem, Utah-based Nomi Health canceled more than $225 million in medical debt for people in Florida, Utah, Colorado and Nebraska.
4. Chicago-based TransUnion Healthcare helped RIP Medical Debt wipe out $5 billion through their partnership.
5. St. Bede's Episcopal Church in Santa Fe, N.M., relieved about $1.4 million of medical debt for 782 households in New Mexico and Arizona.
6. Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health erased $278 million of medical debt for 82,000 patients at the health system.