More than $1 billion in medical debt abolished for Appalachians by RIP Medical Debt organization

A national nonprofit announced recently that it has abolished more than $1 billion in medical debt for people in the Appalachian region. RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit "that raises funds from donors and uses them to acquire and abolish medical debt for people who are financially burdened" has a program that focuses specifically on people in Appalachia, "one of the poorest and least healthy areas of the U.S.," according to information from the organization.

The region's campaign to wipe out medical debt began in 2019 "with the generous support of two families with ties to the region – Jim and Sharen Branscome and Bill Bishop and Julie Ardery – whose donation wiped out $10 million of medical debt for 10,000 individuals in Appalachia. The Branscome's ongoing fundraising has played a major role in reaching the 1 billion dollar milestone." Read more about that donation and the funders' connection to the area here.

According to the organization, Appalachia comprises 423 counties across 13 states and spans 206,000 square miles, from southern New York to northern Mississippi. The region is home to 26.3 million residents. "While it has made progress in recent years, it still lags behind the nation in key socioeconomic indicators. Just under 1 in 7 people in Appalachia are in poverty, and approximately 2.2 million people are uninsured. With higher debt burdens than other parts of rural America, nearly 1 in 4 Appalachians have medical debt in collections."

RIP Medical Debt works nationally to relieve people of medical debt, which in turn helps individuals "enhance their economic opportunities and enable them to live healthier lives. RIP’s criteria for debt relief are those individuals who are four times or below the federal poverty level or those with medical debt that is 5% or more of their gross annual income. Medical debt relief cannot be requested . . . ."

Since RIP Medical Debt's inception in 2014, "more than $10.4 billion of medical debt has been abolished, helping more than 7 million people. Medical debt often results from unplanned, unexpected illnesses and accidents. About one-third of U.S. adults have difficulty covering unexpected health care bills."