THEE Alliance Forgiving Medical Debt - RIP Medical Debt

THEE Alliance Forgiving Medical Debt

You are donating directly to RIP Medical Debt on behalf of THEE Alliance. Every $1 donated abolishes approximately $100 of medical debt.

$684,965.86
raised of $1,000,000 goal
68%
Donate by Check
Campaign Created ByTHEE Alliance

REMINDER: IF YOU ARE DONATING AS A CONGREGATION, PLEASE USE YOUR CONGREGATION’S NAME RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL NAME!

Minnesota and Upper Midwest faith communities are coming together as THEE Alliance Forgiving Medical Debt to erase debt for families facing financial hardship. Leveraging our legendary generosity with RIP’s expertise, our goal is to abolish $100 million for 50,000 families over the next three years!

Medical costs have doubled in the past forty years, insurance copays and deductibles have spiked, and bankruptcy rates have quadrupled, creating an avalanche of destructive medical debt. More than 60% of bankruptcies in America have medical debt as a root cause.

You can make a difference in the lives of people experiencing the challenge of medical debt. Join in the goal of clearing $100 million for 50,000 families over the next three years. To date, THEE Alliance has abolished over $19 million of medical debt.

What is THEE Alliance?

  • Faith communities who profess to love, serve, and help their neighbors
  • Full list of members and consolidated results are available at THEEAlliance.org

How can you be involved?

  • Visit THEEAlliance.org to learn more and complete the form to join
  • Email [email protected] with any questions you have

THEE Alliance Founding Members

  • Lord of Life Lutheran Church, ELCA – Maple Grove, MN
  • First Congregational Church of Winona, UCC – Winona, MN
  • Grace Presbyterian Church – Winona, MN
  • Central Lutheran Church, ELCA – Winona, MN
  • Cedar Valley Lutheran, ELCA – Winona, MN
  • Lutheran Campus Center of Winona – Winona, MN
  • Woodbury Lutheran Church, LCMS – Woodbury, MN
  • Trinity Lutheran Church, ELCA – North Branch, MN
  • St. Anthony Park UCC – St. Paul, MN
  • Falcon Heights UCC – Falcon Heights, MN
  • Gethsemane Lutheran – Hopkins, MN
  • St. Andrew’s Lutheran – Eden Prairie, MN
  • Advent Lutheran – Maple Grove, MN
  • Christ Lutheran Church, ELCA – Preston, MN
  • St. Michael Lutheran Church, ELCA – Roseville, MN
  • Zion Lutheran Church, ELCA – Anoka, MN
  • Wesley United Methodist Church – Winona, MN
  • St. Barnabas Lutheran Church – Plymouth, MN
  • Alleluia Lutheran Church – St. Michael, MN
  • St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church – Maple Grove, MN
  • Word of Peace Lutheran Church – Rogers, MN
  • Lutheran Church of the Resurrection – Roseville, MN
  • Mount Olivet Lutheran – Minneapolis, MN
  • Gethsemane Lutheran – Virginia, MN
  • Capitol Hill Lutheran – Des Moines, IA
  • All Saints Lutheran Church – Darwin, MN
  • St. John’s Catholic Church – Darwin, MN
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church – Cokato, MN
  • Friends of THEE Alliance

Campaign Support Recipients
The Upper Midwest
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$684,965.86
raised of $1,000,000 goal
68%
Donate by Check
  • Recent Donations
  • Donor Avatar
    Anonymous just donated $5,000
  • Donor Avatar
    Anonymous just donated $500
  • Donor Avatar
    Jennifer G. just donated $106
  • Donor Avatar
    Anonymous just donated $891.55
  • Donor Avatar
    Anonymous just donated $234.92
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New research on the impacts of medical debt

A new survey published by PerryUndem in 2023 shows that medical debt is a shared experience for patients across the country.

Key Findings

Patients are making tradeoffs that affect their daily lives.
  1. Nearly 7 in 10 Nearly 7 in 10 U.S. adults say they receive medical bills they cannot afford. Many are forced to delay paying the bill, put it on a credit card, or challenge the bill.
  2. 6 in 10 Six in ten patients report they have self-treated, delayed, or skipped dental and medical appointments. Thirty-four percent report changing the foods they eat or eating less food to afford health care.
People and patients feel trapped in debt and see no way out. They see medical debt as different from other forms of debt - entirely the fault of institutions and systems, and not something consumers have any control over.
  1. Nearly 50% Nearly half feel trapped and believe they will never be able to pay off their debt, while a third of respondents reported feeling heightened depression and anxiety.
  2. Nearly 9 in 10 Nearly 9 in 10 blame the health care industry for fueling the medical debt crisis - not patients themselves. They say the problem stems from the system putting profit over patients.

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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Ready to Launch Your Own Debt Relief Campaign?