Photo: Mikhail Nilov/Pexels
New York City intends to wipe out more than $2 billion in medical debt for up to 500,000 residents, tackling a top cause of personal bankruptcy. The city is working with RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit that buys medical debt in bulk from hospitals and debt collectors for pennies on the dollar. The group targets the debt of people with low incomes or financial hardships and then forgives the amounts. Under the program, the city will spend $18 million over three years. "For middle- and working-class New Yorkers, medical bills can be financially devastating," said Mayor Eric Adams. "If you are able to ... save $2 billion in debt, that $2 billion trickles down to those households, who are not going to fall into our safety net," he said. "They're not going to fall into our homeless system."
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