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Check your mail: LA County is wiping out more medical debt
Patients rest in an emergency room hallway.
(
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
)
Topline:
If you’re an L.A. County resident with medical debt, keep an eye on your mailbox in the coming days. The county may have erased some of it.
Why now: The county health department says another wave of notices are going out to 39,000 residents whose debt has been abolished, totaling about $180 million. The first notices hit back in May.
The backstory: So far, the county has erased roughly three quarters of its $500 million goal to eliminate medical debt, one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the U.S. It’s happening under a pilot program that launched last December with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, which is purchasing the debt for a fraction of the cost. The program may expand with outside help.
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What should I know? The pilot may not eliminate all of your debt, and it has certain eligibility requirements. Official notices will come from Undue Medical Debt and L.A. County (see here for examples). If you don’t get a letter, more resources for medical debt relief can be found on the county’s website.
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This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
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