About Our Organization - RIP Medical Debt
We are a national nonprofit whose purpose is to strengthen communities by abolishing financially burdensome medical debt.

How RIP Works

Over a hundred million Americans, one in three, struggles with the weight of medical debt.

  • You make a donation

    We use data analytics to pinpoint the debt of those most in need: households that earn less than 4x the federal poverty level (varies by state, family size) or whose debts are 5% or more of annual income.

  • RIP buys medical debt at a steep discount

    We buy debt in bundles, millions of dollars at a time at a fraction of the original cost. This means your donation relieves about 100x its value in medical debt.

  • Together we wipe out medical debt

    People across the country receive letters that their debt has been erased. They have no tax consequences or penalties to consider. Just like that, they’re free of medical debt.


Medical debt is a uniquely American injustice.

It prevents millions from achieving financial stability and subjects them to emotional anguish.

Our mission is to end medical debt and be…

1 —
A source of justice in an unjust healthcare finance system
$11,857,900,368
in medical debt relieved so far
7,450,079
individuals and families helped
Our unique and highly leveraged debt abolishment model combines the generosity of donors with debt industry expertise to produce a high volume of debt relief return, mitigating significant financial and mental distress for millions of people.
2 —
A unique solution for patient-centered healthcare providers
124
Hospitals have relieved their patients' debts
$0
collected on or sent to collections
By partnering with us, health care systems can strengthen individuals and communities by relieving dormant, uncollectible, and damaging bad debts and can identify opportunities to refine their financial assistance programs to better serve their communities.
3 —
A moral force for systemic change
Recent Policy Initiatives
  • Senate Banking Committee Provided comments on the medical debt crisis and elevated the hearing to our donor base to provide their own feedback. Read Our Comments
  • Family Glitch Regulations Provided comments to the federal government on proposed regulations that would end the family glitch, providing affordable health insurance to more than 5 million families nationwide.Read Our Comments
  • Initiative Announcement Participation Attended the Vice President’s announcement of an initiative to mitigate the harm of medical debt. This includes accountability for bill accuracy, debt collection practices, key changes to how veteran medical debt is categorized and financial assistance programs.
Our work brings attention to the range of negative impacts caused by medical debt and a deeper understanding of its causes. These efforts support progress toward a more compassionate, transparent, equitable and affordable healthcare system.

Our Story

The debt relief we provide reduces mental and financial distress for millions of people. Here’s how we got started.

RIP Medical Debt was founded in 2014 by two former debt collections executives. Over the course of decades in the debt-buying industry they met with thousands of Americans saddled with unpaid and un-payable medical debt and realized they were uniquely qualified to help those in need.

They imagined a new way to relieve medical debt: by using donations to buy large bundles of debt that is erased with no tax consequences to donors or recipients.

From this idea RIP Medical Debt was born, a New York based 501(C)(3). The results have been spectacular—billions in medical debt eradicated so far, providing financial relief for millions of individuals and families.

Recent News

New York Times
In Older Americans, Rising Debt May Adversely Affect Health
Read More
CNBC
Your medical debt may no longer hurt your credit score — here’s why
Read More
Investigate TV
Diagnosed with Debt: Many Americans face financial hardships from crushing unpaid medical bills 
Read More
Yahoo Money
Americans crowdfunding for medical debt is 'insane' — and inefficient, experts find 
Read More

Transparency & Accountability

We know it’s important that your donation is being used effectively and responsibly. We constantly strive to be transparent and accountable in everything we do.


Team

Allison Sesso

President / CEO

Allison Sesso became the President / CEO of RIP Medical Debt in January of 2020. RIP Medical Debt was established for the sole purpose of reducing the medical debt burdens of low-income individuals with limited capacity to pay their medical bills by leveraging donations from people across the country. They have abolished $11,857,900,368 to date for over 7,450,079 people.

William A. von Mueffling

Chairman of the Board; President, Cantillon Capital Management

William von Mueffling is president of Cantillon Capital Management, an investment firm with more than $14 billion under management. Mr. von Mueffling was previously a managing director at Lazard Asset Management, where he was responsible for hedge funds. Prior to joining Lazard, he was with Deutsche Bank in Germany and France. He earned a BA from Columbia College and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Mr. von Mueffling is a member of Columbia Business School’s Board of Overseers, as well as chair of the advisory board for the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing.

Jerry Ashton

Co-Founder; Board Member

Jerry Ashton is a four-plus decade veteran of the credit and collections industry beginning in 1978 – the same year that the FDCPA (Federal Debt Collections Practices Act) came into existence. In these 40 years in various companies, he and the staff he trained and directed collected literally billions of dollars for their clients. Along the way, a number of those clients included healthcare professionals and practices.

Dr. Oxiris Barbot

President, United Hospital Fund and former NYC Health Commissioner

Dr. Oxiris Barbot is a physician, public health practitioner and innovative leader at the intersection of public health and healthcare delivery.  Her commitment to social justice is the common thread through her career in advocating for health equity, children’s well-being, and community health.  She is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Senior Fellow for Public Health and Social Justice at The JPB Foundation.

Robert E Goff

Founding Director; Principal, The ABER Group LLC

With more than 40 years of experience in the health care industry, Robert E. Goff is a recognized expert in care delivery, organization and financing. His career spans a wide range of leadership positions as a hospital administrator, managed care executive, consultant, regulator, and association executive. He’s held an academic posting as an adjunct professor in Managed Care and Healthcare Strategic Planning at the New School University, NY. He’s a frequent lecturer to physicians and community organizations.

Jon Lindsey

Managing Partner; Major, Lindsey & Africa

As one of the founding partners of Major, Lindsey & Africa, Jon Lindsey built the firm into what is today the world’s leading and largest legal search and consulting firm, with offices in 29 cities around the globe and more than 200 consultants. He has repeatedly been included in Lawdragon's “100 Leading Legal Consultants and Strategists“. Jon earned his law degree from Columbia Law School, where he was managing editor of the Columbia Law Review, and his B.A. with honors in government from Wesleyan University.

Elizabeth Marincola

Senior Advisor, Science for Africa Foundation

Elizabeth Marincola is Senior Advisor for Science Communications and Advocacy at the African Academy of Sciences, which drives scientific research across Africa. Marincola is an international leader in non-profit management, open access publishing, science advocacy, communications, education and public engagement. She was CEO of the open access publisher PLOS, after serving as a long time PLOS board member. She launched AAS Open Research, an innovative scholarly publication.

Michele Masucci

Vice Chair; Partner, Nixon Peabody

Michele Masucci serves as general and special counsel to private equity firms and other investors looking to make investments in health care. Michele helps companies address evolving concepts and capitalize on opportunities emerging from the accelerating convergence of health care and technology. She served as chair of the firm’s Health Care Group from 2010 to 2016.

Jose N. Penabad

Treasurer; Co-Founder and CIO, HCG

Jose embodies the foresight that keeps HCG at the vanguard of Digital Finance Investing. His demonstrated ability to see how trends will evolve into investment opportunities and his rigorous, highly disciplined approach to portfolio management are key drivers behind HCG’s programs.

Dr. Ram Raju

Former Senior Vice President with Northwell Health and CEO with NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation

Ram Raju, MD, combines his executive leadership experience in health care with a deep commitment to achieving social equity to improve the health of communities in need. As the former senior vice president and community health investment officer, he evaluated the needs of Northwell Health’s most vulnerable communities, and provided solutions for them by collaborating with community-based organizations. He’s responsible for promoting, sustaining and advancing an environment that supports equity and diversity, and helping the health system eliminate health disparities.

Ted Sann

Board Member

Ted Sann was Vice Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO North America from 1993-2004. In this role, Ted oversaw the creative work of all of BBDO’s U.S. and Canadian agencies. Sann was also the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer for BBDO New York.

Jeff Smedsrud

Healthcare.com Co-Founder and President, Insurance Services

Jeff is a co-founder of HealthCare.com and founder of Pivot Health (acquired by HealthCare.com in Feb. 2018). Following the acquisition, Jeff is President, Insurance Services for HealthCare.com and continues the leadership of the Pivot Health business. He is a results-oriented leader who has built and grown companies from back-of-envelope ideas to multi-million dollar, profitable and scalable entities with a focus on health insurance and other consumer-centric business models. He is a serial entrepreneur who has started several businesses – four of which have been acquired by publicly traded companies.

Jonathan Wiggs

Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder, Outbound AI

For the past 25 years, Jonathan has helped launch half a dozen startups in the Seattle area, with companies like Jott, an early mobile speech recognition company that was acquired by Nuance. At Nuance, Jonathan led the research team responsible for building the language models for Apple’s first launch of Siri. Jonathan has also led engineering efforts in the areas of telephony, mobile communications, and call center technology. Most recently he was the vice president of engineering and architecture at Avalara where he led several product engineering teams including the core tax platform and tax […]

  • Ruth Landé Vice President, Provider Relations
  • Keith Hearle Special Advisor
  • Mikel Burroughs Director of Military Debt Acquisitions and Relief
  • Mike Toth Director of Debt Acquisition
  • Peter Nieuwkerk Business Process Manager
  • Jeannine Freeman Debt Operations Administration Manager
  • Sani Messchi Provider Partnership Manager

Ruth Landé

Vice President, Provider Relations

Ruth Lande led hospital revenue cycle teams at an academic hospital and an integrated health system. She has expertise in patient access, operational transformation, and clinician alignment. She has been recognized for initiatives resulting in enhanced financial performance and high value outcomes for physicians, administrators, patients, and employees. She is an enthusiastic traveler and has a MA in International Relations.

  • Jana Knauerova Vice President, Finance & Administration
  • Jessica McDermott Development Liaison Manager
  • Blanca Godoi Administrative Services Manager
  • Ashton Henze Accounting Manager
  • Joseph Legaspi Grants & Project Manager

Eva Stahl

Vice President, Public Policy & Program Management

Eva Marie Stahl is the VP of Public Policy at RIP Medical Debt. Eva oversees development and implementation of RIP Medical Debt’s policy work. She works closely with RIP’s staff to ensure that beneficiaries’ voices and experiences are centered in solutions that address the medical debt crisis. Prior to RIP, Eva was a leader in the health advocacy community for over a decade as Director of Policy & Partnerships at Community Catalyst. Eva was part of the senior leadership team responsible for developing state and federal policy agenda.

  • Scott Gannon Patton Vice President, Development
  • Vanessa Matthew Associate VP of Development & Director of Individual Giving
  • Rachel Katz Director of Strategic Partnerships
  • Kayla Andresino Development Associate, Strategic Partnerships
  • Sam Garber Donor Services Lead Associate
  • Sofia Delvalle Development Coordinator
  • Rihana Joseph Development Associate
  • Daphne Sprague Administrative Associate
  • Briani Netzahuatl Development Associate

Scott Gannon Patton

Vice President, Development

Scott G. Patton is the Director of Development for RIP Medical Debt.  He has worked as an administrative and fundraising professional in the nonprofit sector in-house and as a consultant for a decade and enjoys serving a field that addresses challenges and inequity in the human experience.  Favorite previous employers, clients, and boards include Seattle Opera, Curious Theatre, Arch Mission, and Music in the Mountains. Outside of medical debt relief, Scott is interested in cycling and the performing arts.

Marisa Clemente

Vice President, Philanthropy

Marisa Clemente is the Vice President of Philanthropy at RIP Medical Debt. In this capacity, she oversees the development of transformative philanthropy by connecting value-aligned donors together to impactfully serve the RIP community. As a seasoned fundraising professional, Marisa has had extensive development experience in both the cultural & higher education sectors. She is inspired by creating meaningful philanthropic impact and fostering altruistic mindfulness.   Prior to joining RIP Medical Debt, Marisa led individual giving efforts at The New York Public Library, Brown University, and the University of Chicago, among other institutions. When Marisa is not focusing […]

  • David Reynolds Vice President, Info Systems
  • Charles Russek Senior Software Developer
  • Jonathan Chu Software Developer
  • Nikolai Simonov Associate Software Developer
  • Eric Kemp Data Specialist
  • Maksat Sadyrov Devops and Infrastructure Engineer
  • Jervon Ralph Project Manager, Info Systems
  • Daniel Lempert VP Communications and Marketing
  • Morgan Telesford Communications and Marketing Manager
  • George & Elaine Web Design & Development
  • Emily Brimmer Social Media Director
  • Katie Goulding PR Manager

Make a Difference

Give Now

Your donation relieves the medical debt of individuals and families across the country.

Start a Campaign

Organize a group to maximize your impact around the country, or in your local area.

Get Informed

We fight to make our health care financing system more equitable and affordable.

Our Impact

Hear stories directly from our community of debt relief recipients.