{"id":1610776,"date":"2022-08-17T13:32:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T17:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1610776"},"modified":"2022-08-17T13:32:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T17:32:32","slug":"a-nonprofit-has-cleared-3-9-million-people-of-medical-debt-totaling-billions-of-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-nonprofit-has-cleared-3-9-million-people-of-medical-debt-totaling-billions-of-dollars\/","title":{"rendered":"A Nonprofit Has Cleared 3.9 Million People Of Medical Debt, Totaling Billions Of Dollars"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-nonprofit-has-cleared-3-9-million-people-of-medical-debt-totaling-billions-of-dollars%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1610776&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit whose model was developed\u00a0by two former debt collectors, has absolved <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/watch-church-pays-millions-medical-debt-6500-james-barrett\">medical debt<\/a> for over 3.9 million Americans, totaling more than $7 billion.<\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit, through donations, purchases medical debt by the bundle, taking about $1 to retire every $100. Those with the now-absolved debt receive a letter letting them know, and, according to RIP Medical Debt, suffer no tax consequences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-l-font-size has-grey-11-color fadeIn\">\u201cWe buy debt in bundles, millions of dollars at a time at a fraction of the original cost. This means your donation relieves about 100x its value in medical debt,\u201d the group\u2019s website <a href=\"https:\/\/ripmedicaldebt.org\/about\/\">says<\/a>. \u201cPeople across the country receive letters that their debt has been erased. They have no tax consequences or penalties to consider. Just like that, they\u2019re free of medical debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jerry Ashton, who modeled the nonprofit, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GetNesIUrDQ\">said<\/a>\u00a0in a 2019 video that he was \u201creformed\u201d into a \u201cpredatory giver.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a bill collector collecting millions of dollars in medical-associated bills in my career, now all of a sudden I\u2019m reformed: I\u2019m a predatory giver,\u201d\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit\u2019s CEO Allison Sesso said Ashton and Craig Antico, another former debt collector, \u201cwould have conversations with people on the phone, and they would understand and have better insights into the struggles people were challenged with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2022\/08\/15\/1093769295\/this-groups-wiped-out-6-7-billion-in-medical-debt-and-its-just-getting-started\">report<\/a> from NPR, the group chooses recipients randomly but limits their services to those who earn at twice the poverty level and below. But, now, with the economy in free-fall, random recipients include anyone who makes as much as four times the federal poverty level.<\/p>\n<p>The debt bought up in bundles depends on what\u2019s available for purchase, Sesso told NPR. \u201cNobody can come to us, raise their hand, and say, \u2018I\u2019d like you to relieve my debt,&#8217;\u201d she emphasized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you to everyone that had anything to do with taking care of this bill,\u201d one anonymous recipient said, according to RIP Medical Debt\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/ripmedicaldebt.org\/stories\/anonymous-ma-36623\/\">site<\/a>. \u201cIt is a blessing and a relief to know that it\u2019s not hanging over my head. I had never ever heard of this program, but I\u2019m grateful and appreciative of the help they provide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you for the help. My husband and I live on one income. My being diabetic puts a financial strain on us,\u201d another person said.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, RIP Medical Debt in 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/this-church-will-help-cancel-over-5-million-in-medical-debt-for-struggling-families-this-christmas\">partnered<\/a> with a Christian Assembly Church in Eagle Rock, California, to help relieve a stunning $5.3 million in medical debt around Christmas time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor many people in our communities, medical debt is a crushing weight during a most challenging time in their life,\u201d co-pastor of the church Tom Hughes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/this-church-will-help-cancel-over-5-million-in-medical-debt-for-struggling-families-this-christmas\">said<\/a> at the time. \u201cMedical debt is one of the leading causes of personal bankruptcy and contributes significantly to the likelihood of a person experiencing homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe mapped out all of the active households that call Christian Assembly Church home, and we chose the top 28 neighborhoods. This gift is really impacting the poor in the 28 neighborhoods where we live,\u201d he continued. \u201cBecause of the generosity of the people of Christian Assembly Church, we are able to make this gift possible. All of this is being done in Jesus\u2019 name because of the generosity of our God and the compassion and mercy He has shown us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/this-church-will-help-cancel-over-5-million-in-medical-debt-for-struggling-families-this-christmas\">This Church Will Help Cancel Over $5 Million In Medical Debt For Struggling Families This\u00a0Christmas<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit whose model was developed\u00a0by two former debt collectors, has absolved medical debt for over 3.9 million Americans, totaling more than $7 billion. The nonprofit, through donations, purchases medical debt by the bundle, taking about $1 to retire every $100. Those with the now-absolved debt receive a letter letting them know, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1611070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1610776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1610776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1611070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1610776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1610776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1610776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}