Two Ithacans Raise $12,500 to Forgive over $1.5 Million in Family Medical Debt (AUDIO)

During the summer of 2018, two Ithacans, members of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the New York Health Campaign, raised $12,500 to forgive and erase over $1.5 million in medical debt held by low-income families. They worked through RIP Medical Debt (Medical Debt Resolution, Inc.), a not for profit corporation that locates, buys, and forgives medical debt. The two want to draw attention to the New York Health Act which would establish a single payer health care system, eliminating all medical debt.
WRFI reporter Fred Balfour sat down with Judy Jones and Carolyn Kenyon to discuss their project that erased over $2 million of crippling medical debt for hundreds of low-income upstate families.