$58 million in medical debt erased for over 43,000 Pittsburgh residents

Pittsburgh City Councilman Bobby Wilson on Monday announced that more than 43,000 city residents saw their medical debt erased.

This comes after Wilson, D-North Side, in 2023 sponsored a bill that allocated $1 million in federal covid-19 relief money to contract with a company that bought dischargeable health care debt from hospitals and forgave it for thousands of residents.

Wilson’s office on Monday announced the effort wiped out more than $58 million in medical debt for over 43,000 people.

Wilson initially projected the measure could forgive about $115 million in health care debt owed by about 24,000 residents.

“With rising health care costs, uncertainty around Medicaid, and the recent reversal of the Biden Administration’s efforts to remove medical debt from credit reports, this assistance is more important than ever,” Wilson said in a statement. “No one should be burdened simply because they got sick. Relieving this debt will have a significant impact on the lives of many Pittsburghers.”

The city partnered with national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt — formerly known as RIP Medical Debt — to provide debt relief to residents with a household income between 0% and 400% of the federal poverty level or who had medical debt equal to 5% or more of their annual income.

Residents who qualified will automatically receive a letter from Undue Medical Debt identifying what debts have been forgiven, Wilson’s office said. Letters will begin arriving this week.

The debt relief is source-based, and people cannot request to receive help.

Undue Medical Debt works with hospitals and health care providers — as well as secondary debt collectors — to purchase portfolios of past-due medical bills owed by people who are unable to pay. The organization buys the qualified accounts in bulk for pennies on the dollar and abolishes the debt.

“Our communities are stronger when everyone can get the care they need, without fear of financial hardship,” Undue Medical Debt President and CEO Allison Sesso said in a statement.