A reported 1 in 5 Americans have delinquent medical debt on their credit reports—and that doesn’t even account for other Americans who struggle with medical costs in other ways. It’s a large problem that is preventable in one of the richest countries in the world, but we need the wealthy—a.k.a. our politicians—to be willing to do something about it. Until then, folks like a group of Kansas City doctors are taking measures into their own hands.
Over 780 patients in Kansas and Missouri will have their medical debt paid off, according to The Kansas City Star. The Midwest Direct Primary Care Alliance donated $11,000 to RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit that will use the amount to pay off the $1.47 million worth of debt.
Allison Edwards, who owns Kansas City Direct Primary Care in Kansas City, Kan., said the doctors don’t know who got their bills paid “and it doesn’t really matter, frankly.”
“In our society, we’ve decided that health care is a commodity and we’re going to have to pay for it in some way or another, and until that changes, we’re going to have to figure out a way to help people,”
RIP Medical Debt focuses on paying the medical debts of service members, veterans, and low-income individuals. They sent the notification of the debt forgiveness in a bright gold envelope. It’s part of their mission to “abolish medical debt. For Good.”
This is just a drop in the giant bucket of problems with American health care, but this will make a world of a difference for so many lives.