The Starfish Campaign - RIP Medical Debt
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Campaign Created ByJohn Knox Presbytery Generosity Task Force

It’s a familiar story.  A man was walking along the beach.  From a short distance, he saw a young boy pick something up and toss it into the water.  When the man was able to catch up, he saw what the boy was doing…picking up starfish and throwing them back into the ocean.  The boy explained that, if the starfish remained on the beach they would die.

The man tried to reason with the boy and told him, “There must be thousands of starfish on this beach.  You can’t save them all.  What difference can you make?”  The boy had found another starfish.  As he picked it up and nimbly sent it into life-giving water, He smiled and told the man, “I made a difference to that one!”

 With medical debt in the United States somewhere around 195 billion dollars, no one person or group can help everyone.  By partnering with RIP Medical Debt though, each dollar you contribute will do the work of at least $100.  You will make a difference to many people, renewing their hope and changing their lives!

In 2019, the Presbyterian Church (USA) began a ministry called “The Matthew 25 Initiative”.  One of the emphases of Matthew 25 is “the eradication of systemic poverty”.  John Knox Presbytery is responding to Christ’s call to serve others by partnering with RIP Medical Debt to purchase and forgive medical debt for as many families as possible.  We have asked to have all donations used to help those with the greatest need so your gift will help people struggling to pay their medical bills in North Carolina, Indiana, Texas, and Idaho.  We are inviting you to contribute and make a difference in someone else’s life. 

Campaign Support Recipients
Texas
North Carolina
Idaho
Indiana
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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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