Put People First! PA Campaign to Abolish Medical Debt in Western Pennsylvania

At Put People First! PA, we don't believe that anyone should go broke paying for medical care. The US is the richest nation in the world, and we have more than enough to take care of everyone who lives here. Working people should get the same care as the rich. We should never have to choose between getting the care we need and having a roof over our head, transportation or food to eat. Medical bills are a leading cause of homelessness. To solve this problem, we need a universal healthcare system that puts people over profit and abolishes insurance companies that currently ration our care and have power over our lives. We are taking care of our people in the here and now by working to free ourselves from the crushing burden of medical debt. Will you join us and contribute to freeing over 1700 people in 18 counties (Allegheny, Washington, Greene, Butler, Westmoreland, Indiana, Armstrong, Beaver, Fayette, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Clarion, Venango, Warren, and Forest) from the stress and harm of healthcare debt?

About Put People First!

Put People First! PA gives voice to everyday people who are struggling to meet our basic needs. We define our basic needs as things we need to live healthy and fulfilling lives — things like education, housing, health care, jobs at living wages, food, and a healthy environment. We’re a membership organization made up mostly of people who know from our life experience that poor and working people need to unite and have a voice. No one else is going to do it for us. We’re building, county by county, all across Pennsylvania. We’re urban and rural. We’re multiracial. We’re politically independent. Until we unite, we don’t have the power to change things.

To find out more visit: www.putpeoplefirstpa.org

RIP Medical Debt’s Solution: RIP Medical Debt uses donations to purchase bundled medical debt portfolios that have gone through collection agencies for months or years. Using third-party credit data providers, it targets debt incurred by people facing financial hardship, and then forgives it. On average, $1 is leveraged to abolish $100 in medical debt.

Please see the full RIP FAQ below and visit www.ripmedicaldebt.org for more information. 

Who is RIP Medical Debt? RIP Medical Debt (RIP) is a national 501c3 nonprofit organization with a mission to empower donors to forgive the billions of dollars in oppressive medical debt at pennies on the dollar. RIP locates, buys, and abolishes destructive medical debt for individuals, veterans, and families. Since inception in 2014, RIP has relieved more than $450 million in medical debt for individuals across the U.S., impacting over 250,000 individuals.

How Does RIP Medical Debt Work? RIP, working with third-party credit data providers, searches through large debt portfolios to locate accounts meeting their criteria for relief. RIP then negotiates to buy millions of dollars of this debt at a steep discount, usually a penny or less on the dollar.

Facts about Medical Debt

• More than $100 billion in unpaid medical debt every year has an adverse impact on debtor patients,  physicians, and hospitals.
• 6 in 10 of both insured and uninsured people say they have difficulty in paying other bills as a result of medical debt. Over a third were unable to pay for food, heat, or housing because of medical bills.
• Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults under age 65, or 116 million people, had medical bill problems or debt, went without needed care because of cost, were uninsured for a time, or were underinsured—insured but had high out-of-pocket medical expenses or deductibles relative to income.
• Medical debt contributes to more than 60% of the bankruptcies in the US. Until satisfied, debt
  lingers on a person’s credit report to negatively impact their ability to buy a home, get a loan or evengain employment.

Whose unpayable medical bills does RIP forgive?

• Individuals who make less than 2 times the federal poverty level
• Individuals with financial hardship - a debt that that is 5% or more of their annual income
• Individuals who are insolvent (debts greater to their assets)

Why Donate to RIP Medical Debt?

• Your dollar goes a long way! On average, $1 abolishes $100 of debt.
• 100 percent of your donation goes towards abolishing medical debt.
• RIP Medical Debt is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, and our EIN number is 47-1442997. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
• We have specific programs for veterans and active service members of the US military.
• There are no tax consequences for those whose medical debts are forgiven. The forgiveness is a gift from a detached and disinterested third party (RIP) is an act of generosity, so forgiveness of the debt does not count as being income to the gift recipient.

RIP Medical Debt's Federal Tax ID: 47-1442997