National Org. Erases $44 Million In W.Va. Medical Debt

Undue Medical Debt announced Thursday it has erased $44 million in medical debt for 37,000 West Virginians.

Eva Stahl is a Vice President with Undue Medical Debt, which aims to eliminate medical debt for those who need it most. She said medical debt is not a debt of choice but rather a debt of necessity, so her organization works with stakeholders to purchase that debt in bulk.

“Medical debts are sold for pennies on the dollar, and we turn that into $100 of medical debt relieved on average,” Stahl said. “Once we acquire that debt, we erase it, and we send letters out to all the patients, letting them know that some or all of their medical debt has been relieved. There’s no application, there’s no red tape, no strings attached.”

Undue Medical Debt estimates close to 15% of West Virginians carry some form of medical debt, a small part of the more than $220 billion of medical debt nationwide.

The group focuses on individuals that are earning four times the federal poverty level or below, or those with medical debt that is more than 5% of their income. Stahl said the letters sent to former medical debtors opens up a dialogue about the effects the debt has on individuals and why the system needs to change.

“People can’t avoid getting sick or hurt, and we hear over and over again from our constituents about the pain that these unpaid medical bills cause them, that keeps them up at night,” Stahl said. “They create stress that forces them to make trade-offs between basic needs and even sometimes things as simple as providing for their children, a birthday gift. These are really meaningful parts of people’s lives that we’re able to give some moment of relief to create windows of opportunity to maybe think differently and make different choices.”