Medical debt eliminated for nearly 7K Smyth residents
A regional non-profit working with the national Undue Medical Debt has eliminated medical debt for area residents that totaled $51,348,305. Two of the counties with the most medical debt erased were Smyth and Washington.
For Smyth County, The Secular Society, bought the medical debt of 6,950 people. That debt totaled $10,485,640.24. In Washington County, the erased debt amounted to $11,783,683.19 and was for more than 7,479.
They weren’t the only counties in which people were helped. The Secular Society, based in Blacksburg, helped 35,007 residents in 17 counties.
In Wythe County, the medical debt of 378 people was eliminated, totaling $ 482,341.01. Another 1,557 in Tazewell County had their medical debt of $2,192,741.14 deleted. In Floyd County, the removal of medical debt totaling $137,935.12 benefited 101 people.
According to a news release from The Secular Society, to be eligible for purchase and abolition, the debt must be held by someone with a family income less than 4 times the federal poverty level, or by someone for whom medical debt is 5% or more of their annual income. The medical debt of an uninsured citizen or even an underinsured citizen is eligible for purchase.
Individuals can’t ask for medical debt relief.
The people who benefit from this endeavor receive a letter with the good news.
With the debt purchased, the Society hopes a great deal of peace of mind and economic stability are restored. The relief is also not treated as taxable income for those who held the debt.
To accomplish this relief, The Secular Society partnered with Undue Medical Debt, a non-profit corporation headquartered in New York, to buy and abolish the debt. UMD was previously known as RIP Medical Debt.
UMD has gone from $1 billion of medical debt erased in 2020 to nearly $12 billion now.
UMD shifted its eligibility from 2x the federal poverty line to 4x, saying, “This change reflects that increasingly middle-class families are burdened by unpayable medical debts.”
UMD also notes that “Nearly 1/2 of U.S. adults struggle to afford healthcare costs. For Black, Hispanic and low-income adults that figure jumps to at least six in ten.”
According to Society spokesperson, “Over the past five years, The Secular Society (TSS) has quietly become one of the most impactful forces for economic relief in Southwest Virginia. Through multiple partnerships with RIP Medical Debt/Undue Medical Debt, the Blacksburg-based nonprofit has abolished more than $130 million in medical debt for over 75,000 residents across the southwest Virginia region, restoring creditworthiness, reopening access to medical care, and delivering peace of mind to thousands of individuals and families who needed help most. The Secular Society's most recent purchase, abolishing $51,348,305 in medical debt for 35,007 Southwest Virginians, stands as one of their single largest acts of generosity to date.”
Earlier this year, the Society also pledged $150,000 to help buy dental equipment for new operatories at Appalachian Highlands Community Dental Charities.
In this round of medical debt relief, the number of citizens were helped in other counties were Wise (5,409), Montgomery (4,111), Russell (2,431), Carroll (1,604), Pulaski (1,229), Lee (997), Scott (887), Patrick (882), Dickenson (647), Giles (138), Franklin (131), Craig (70), and other counties (6) - received these medical debt relief benefits.
According to its website, The Secular Society supports other initiatives in Virginia and several around the world.
The Society does not accept unsolicited project proposals.
