Washington Post analyst Andrew Van Dam, in an article on regional debt scores, reports that serious medical debt is concentrated in the South and Appalachian regions. This coincides with maps of lower credit scores — and also a lack of non-profit medical systems reported in another article on May 15. The area generally matches the CDC’s “Diabetes Belt” as well. Graphic ©WashPo.
Read the article (scroll down to find section one medical debt):
May 12, 2023 – NPR reports that there is a high amount of medical debt in collection in the counties that the CDC identifies as “the Diabetes Belt.” In many counties, 1 in 5 families have unpayable medical debt in collection.
Read or Listen to the Story:
Many in the ‘Diabetes Belt’ plagued with medical debt
Debt Jubilee Project was on the front page of CNN on 4/26, and the story continues to circulate! We had so much traffic later that day our serve crashed. We have had many churches around the country contact us to learn how they can do something similar, and many local partners that are helping with our next campaign. You can read the article here:
A church is canceling people’s medical debt for pennies on the dollar. It wants others to join in
Yes, the Debt Jubilee Project went viral on April 12-13 – no kidding! We were viral on Twitter, TikTok, and Reddit, where the story from WXII-12 was posted and reposted.
TikTok – 13.5 Million views
Twitter – 28.8 Million views
Reddit – Top Favorites page on 4/12, 3,300 comments.
As a result, we were mentioned on the syndicated radio programs the Bobby Bones Show and the Glenn Beck Show.
Listen to Glenn Beck Show – begins at 13:40
Listen to Bobby Bones Show – begins at 50:30
On Sunday, March 26, we will symbolically burn a list of $3.3 million in medical debts for families in Davidson, Davie, and Yadkin counties. The Debt Jubilee Project has bid and purchased the medical debts of 3,355 area families so that we could forgive the debt.
During the 11 am service, we will have a ceremony where we burn the listings of the purchased debts, which have already been wiped clean. Families have received official letters in the mail indicating that their owed medical debt has been forgiven, and can no longer be collected. The service is open to all, as we celebrate this radical act of God’s Jubilee.
The idea is based on the Biblical Year of Jubilee, described in Leviticus 25, where all debts are forgiven and slaves are freed. We believe that our society needs Jubilee, and we are doing what we can to make it happen.
11:00 am
March 26, 2023
Trinity Moravian Church
220 East Sprague Street
Winston-Salem NC 27127
WXII featured our Davidson county project where we were able to purchase and forgive $3.3 million in medical debt, helping more than 3,000 local families. Kara Peters did a great job on the story:
WXII Coverage of Debt Jubilee Project
Kaiser Health News reports that many hospitals are now working hand-in-hand with private financing to make it “easy” to pay for medical services — at a high interest rate and large profit.
RIP Medical Debt was featured on the October 30 edition of Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, a nationally syndicated current issues program. O’Brien interviews the founders and outlines how the program works. Watch it now online:
The Debt Jubilee Project was featured on the front page of the Winston-Salem Journal on October 3, 2022. Scott Sexton and videographer Ragan Robinson did a great job on the story and interviews. Read the full story here:
Be sure to watch the videos!
Debt Jubilee Project officially forgave $1,165,798.61 in medical debt owed by 1,356 individuals in Forsyth and Davidson counties, and symbolically burned the list of debts during a special church service on Sunday, September 25, at Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, NC.
The campaign was originally planned to raise $5,000 to purchase and forgive approximately $500,000 in uncollected medical debt in Forsyth County. The campaign was expected to take three months. However, in less than six weeks, the campaign hit its goal, with most donations being $25 or $50. When RIP Medical Debt took the cash to the debt broker, they were able to buy a staggering $1.1 million in debts, about equally split between Forsyth and Davidson counties.
In the coming week, 1,356 households will be receiving official notification of the debt forgiveness.
The church board announced on October 2 that the next phase of the program – raising enough money to forgive approximately $4 million in medical debts owed in Davidson county – will commence immediately. The Project will be seeking partnerships with many area churches to successfully retire the Davidson county debts. If your church would like to partner with us, more information is here.
The plan is to then move to Davie, Yadkin, Stokes, and Guilford counties in turn.
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Featured photo: June Edwards, Vice-Chair of the Board and Pastor John Jackman burn the list of debts. Photo by Debbie Jackman
