Trinity Moravian Church cancels $3 million of medical debt among poor people

"Small" Trinity Moravian Church cancels $3 million of medical debt among poor people

by Staff

Members of the Trinity Moravian Church in the US state of North Carolina purchased over $3 million of some 3,000 local residents' medical debt and bills, canceling it all. This was made possible by a partnership between the Debt Jubilee Project that focuses on paying off the past-due medical bills of residents.

If a patient owes a medical bill, the medical provider may employ a debt collection firm after a few months without payment. These businesses will sell the debt to a third-party collection agency for pennies on the dollar after a specific period of time without payment, even after typical debt collection procedures, in an effort to recover some of their loss. Then, this third party has the option of either legally recouping the whole debt or, as in the instance of the Debt Jubilee Project, legally forgiving the obligation.

The Debt Jubilee Project and RIP Medical Debt in New York teamed to buy and discharge medical debts in the region. The campaign raised $15,048 in cash over the last three months, which was utilized to buy approximately $3.3 million medical debts. Because the debt is bought in bulk, the church cannot focus on any one person or family, but it was able to inform those persons in writing that their debt had been bought and forgiven.