Rise Together - RIP Medical Debt

$11,317.80
raised of $20,000 goal
56%
Donate by Check
Campaign Created ByRise Together Campaign

Rise Together

Campaign Created By: Health Committee of the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca

Ithaca Community Works to Relieve Medical Debt of Low-Income Neighbors in Western New York Counties

Why: A recent series of reports from the Community Service Society of NY (CSS) titled “Discharged into Debt”, revealed that hospitals sued widely during the pandemic, more commonly in majority-minority zip codes. The highest area of indebtedness is 14% in Syracuse (Onondaga County) followed by Broome, Chatauqua, Chemung, and Steuben Counties. The consequences of this indebtedness for low-income persons is financially crippling, ruining credit scores and adding the stress of bill collectors calling. 

Who: The project has a strong anti-racist component. Racial disparities are highly significant in medical debt lawsuits— 65% are filed in zips with a high proportion of people of color.

How: We will fund raise for an organization, RIP Medical Debt, that can buy medical debt belonging to people in financial distress for pennies on the dollar, send notices of abolished debt, and delete the debt from recipients’ credit report with no tax consequences to either donor or recipient. If the Ithaca community can raise $10,000, RIP can abolish at least $1 Million in debt. Since the average debt is $2000, a $20 donation can be thought to free a debtor, and enable wide spread community participation. RIP can only abolish debt owed by folks earning less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. Hence our assistance will be targeted where it is most needed — in Western New York, especially Syracuse.

Donors: We are reaching out through ACT to participating religious congregations, the Poor Peoples’ Campaign, and other socially minded groups. We hope to create awareness of the crisis of medical debt, generate large-scale community support, and publicize widely to reinforce the values of community caring.

WhenBegins June 2023

Make checks out to :RIPMedicalDebt, Rise Together on the memo line

References: RIPMedicalDebt.org, cssny.org (Community Service Society of NY , “Discharged into Debt” multiple reports), Questions to Judy Jones, [email protected]

Group Contributions:

$206 raised by BJM Second Graders

$1,000 raised in honor of the BJM Second Graders

$1,000 from Carol Kammen in honor of BJM Second Graders

$456 from the CCCBird Study Group

$1,000 from Ithaca Catholic Worker Community

$465 in honor of Rebecca Elgie

Campaign Support Recipients
New York
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$11,317.80
raised of $20,000 goal
56%
Donate by Check
  • Recent Donations
  • Donor Avatar
    First Unitarian Society just donated $65
  • Donor Avatar
    Zachariah D. just donated $106
  • Donor Avatar
    Sharon A. just donated $37.30
  • Donor Avatar
    June L. just donated $53.20
  • Donor Avatar
    Nancy D. just donated $128
  • Donor Avatar
    Greg S. just donated $53.20
  • Donor Avatar
    Anonymous just donated $63.70
  • Donor Avatar
    Anonymous just donated $58.50

Fundraise for This Campaign

Start a fundraiser to help those in need. Set a personal fundraising goal and track online donations easily with RIP.

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.


Frequent Questions

Yes. We are a 501(c)(3) charity and your donation is 100% tax deductible.


Relevant Documents:

When we purchase a portfolio of medical debt, we abolish debt for individuals who:

  • Earn less than 4x the federal poverty level (varies by state, family size).
  • Debts are 5 percent or more of annual income.

We only buy debt that has been pre-qualified by our partners to meet at least one of these criteria. 

We never collect on debt we purchase, only relieve it.

No. With your help, we abolish medical debt permanently. Recipients have no adverse tax consequences, obligations, or strings attached.

For those whose medical debts are relieved, the relief is a gift from a detached and disinterested third party (RIP) as an act of generosity, so relief of the debt does not count as income to the debtor. We will not file a Form 1099-C with the IRS.

Due to HIPAA laws, RIP Medical Debt cannot disclose the names, contact information or any other specific details of the debt relief beneficiaries.

RIP Medical Debt cannot relieve debt by individual request.

While we would love to help everyone who needs assistance, RIP Medical Debt cannot abolish medical debt for specific individuals. We approach the problem of medical debt by acquiring large portfolios of debt to help thousands of people at once.

Because medical debt affects so many people who may not have debt accounts in the portfolios we purchase, we have compiled a list of resources that may be able to help in ways RIP Medical Debt cannot.

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