Tens of thousands residents in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County will have their outstanding medical debt wiped away thanks to County leaders and a national nonprofit.
Beginning next week, more than 134,000 L.A. County residents will begin receiving notices in the mail to inform them that their medical debt has been forgiven.
The effort was spearheaded by County Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Janice Hahn, with unanimous support from the rest of the Board of Supervisors.
L.A. County has partnered with the nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt, which provides a way for individuals, organizations and municipalities to purchase unpaid medical debt for pennies on the dollar.
The county was able to purchase more than $183.5 million in medical debt at an even lower rate, approximately one-half cent on the dollar. That would be less than $1 million total spent.
“That’s a huge return on investment—and it’s going to change lives,” Hahn said in a post to social media.
Mitchell encouraged residents to check their mailboxes for notices from L.A. County and Undue Medical Debt, urging them not to throw out the envelope. “It’s not a bill. It’s relief,” she said.
According to the Board of Supervisors, the burden of medical debt in L.A. County is over $2.9 billion, and it affects 1 in 9 adult residents.
People with medical debt are significantly more likely to put off additional medical treatment or struggle with housing instability, officials said. These debts also disproportionately affect low-income residents and communities of color.
“Medical debt relief is an anti-poverty solution,” Mitchell said. “I look forward to this program expanding and more cities joining us in this effort, just like the City of Los Angeles has done.”