COOK COUNDY HAS ERESED NEARLY $ 665 Million in Medical Debt for A Half-Million Residents – ryan

COOK COUNDY HAS ERESED Nearly $ 665 million in Medical Debt for Local Residents Since Launching The Efffort in 2022, Acciting to New Figures Releassed Thursday.

County Leaders Are Celebrating The Latest Milestone of the Program, which Has So Far Helped Almost 557,000 People Have Some of their Debt Abolished.

The EFFORT HAS RELIved the Most Debt for People on Chicago’s South and West Sides and in the South and West Suburbs. The Amout Erased Ranges From About $ 600 to $ 4,000 on Avent per Person, Depending on Where they Live.

“This has haen ben a real boon to a substantial number of our residents,” Said County Board President Tony Preckwinkle. “THIS I THINK IS WHAT The President of the United States at the time, joe biden, and congress intended – that we make a real impact on peoples’ lives in the aftermath of a realysmic event, not just the health scare, but the very troutonomic impacts.”

The County Has Become a national model for How Other Local Governments can user resources to Erase Medical Debt for Residents. COOK COUNDY Partners with the NonProfit undue Medical Debt, Which Buys Old Uncollectible Bills from Hospitals and Others for Pennies on the Dollar, and THEN FORGIVES IT. With $ 1, undue Medical Debt Leaders have said they can relieve as much as $ 100 of Medical Debt or More at Time.

In Total, The County Plans to SPEND $ 9 Million it has reciped from the Federal Government to Help Recover from the Covid-19 Pandemic to Erase Up to $ 1 Billion in Medical Debt for County Residents. That Money must be spent by the end of 2026, and the county has spent about two-thirds so far, Said Matt Richards, Cook County Deputy Chief of Staff for Health.

Across the Country, Eve People With Private Insurance have Medical DebtPartly Because they Afford Costly Deductibles they must pay insurers will be help covert their medical bills, accorting to kff, a nonprofit health policy research organization. Around 20 million People – Nearly 1 in 12 – Carry Medical Debt, KFF Found. Its one of the Leading Causes of Bankruptcy in the US

In 2023, a Report Documented The Devastation Medical Debt Causes Illinois Families – Particularly in immigrant and Black communities – causus stress that impacted their health and depleted their savings.

“It ‘s extramely Common reality for families Around the Country and in Cook County,” Richards Said, of Having Medical Debt. “Communities of Color to be disproportionately Impacted, Particularly Black Residents and Folks in Communities that historically disinvested.”

People Can’t Apply for the Program. They receive a letter in the mail that some of their debt has been erass. Those who Qualify have income up to 400% of the federal poverty level, which is around $ 62,000 for an individual, or they have medical debt that is at least 5% of their income.

COOK COUNDY ORIGINALLY PLANNED To SPEND $ 12 Million on its Medical Debt Relief But Reduced the AMount AFTER The State Announched its Own initiative, preckwinkle said. The State Can Erase Debt for County Residents, Too.

Preckwinkle Said the County Will Likely Determine this Year if it will end it its Own medical debt relief the federal Money Runs Out.

Kristen Schorsch Covers the Health of the Region for Wbez.