A megachurch in Cincinnati announced Sunday that it is paying off $46.5 million in medical debt for more than 45,000 families.
Crossroads Church partnered with RIP Medical Debt, a medical debt relief nonprofit, to wipe out debts for people in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. They will receive bright yellow envelopes this week letting them know the good news.
"I want to give us an opportunity to multiply our impact," Senior Pastor Brian Tome told his congregation in a Nov. 23 sermon announcing the chance to give. "They'll get a letter that says, 'Congratulations, your debt has been paid because someone loves you and there is a God that has not forgotten about you.'"
On Sunday, the pastor read aloud a message from one of the lucky beneficiaries.
"I received this piece of mail in this bright yellow envelope and started to throw it away," the pastor read. "But when I saw that it said your medical debt has been paid, I thought, 'seriously, wait a minute.' When I read it I got emotional – the person continued – because I have been so needing a break with getting my credit together. I really appreciate the gift."
The church wiped out debt for 41,233 households in Ohio for a total of $42.8 million, 2,974 Kentucky households abolishing $1.9 million in debt, 503 Tennessee households for $1.5 million, and 136 Indiana homes for $200,000, FOX 19 reports.
For every $100 donated to RIP Medical Debt, $10,000 in medical debt is wiped out, according to the New York-based organization.
Crossroads Church's recent deed constitutes the largest amount of medical debt eliminated in the nonprofit's history.
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DFParker78 on February 28th, 2020 at 23:29 UTC »
I had $18,000 surgery ER bill paid by a church and I’m an Atheist; I’ll never forget that.
arkdude on February 28th, 2020 at 21:30 UTC »
Anecdotal story; I nearly compound fractured my collarbone 10 years ago. Had to have surgery and a metal plate put in. I was 21 years old without insurance. My local hospital is a Catholic hospital and they never so much as billed me for it because "private donations" covered it.
Edit: This was in Northwest Arkansas at a Mercy Healthcare hospital
DifficultMinute on February 28th, 2020 at 17:42 UTC »
RIP Medical Debt is such a great organization, at least it seems so from everything that I've seen about it.
They took the knowledge that medical companies have been selling medical debt for pennies of what it's worth, for years, and instead of trying to help people pay off $50,000 in medical bills, they just buy it when it goes to default for $500, and never collect on it.
From the article, to wipe out that $46 million in debt, it only cost them $200,000.
I saw recently where that organization passed the $1 billion mark in abolished debt, helping over 500,000 families.
Of course, the real question, if that medical debt was really worth $46 million, why did the hospital/doctors accept $200,000? But that discussion is for another day.