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Medical Debt Relief

Medical Debt Relief

Have you received a letter from Undue Medical Debt regarding medical debt relief? It’s real, and we are pleased to announce that the State of Michigan has collaborated with the nonprofit, Undue Medical Debt, with the goal of putting money back in residents’ pockets by erasing medical debt for people across the state. For more information, read the recent press release.

To date the first round of medical debt forgiveness totaled
more than $144 million for nearly 210,000 Michigan residents.

Across the U.S., medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy and affects more than 100 million Americans. That includes 700,000 Michigan residents who often must choose between paying their medical bills or putting food on the table. Medical debt frequently results from unplanned and unexpected illnesses and accidents, especially for those who are underinsured or uninsured.

Undue Medical Debt is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to erasing medical debt for Americans across the country by purchasing qualifying medical debt in bulk for pennies on the dollar from providers like hospitals and physicians’ groups as well as collection agencies.

Governor press conference

Frequently asked questions

  • Debt relief is provided based on financial need. To qualify, an individual must:

    • Be a Michigan resident, and
    • Have income up to four times or 400% of the current Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or below the FPL, or
    • Have medical debt that equals 5% or more of their annual income.

    These criteria are built into the system and apply to all debt purchased. Relief is not based on medical condition, age, or other personal characteristics. 

    Undue Medical Debt does not collect on the debt they purchase, they only relieve it.

  • No. With your help, medical debt is abolished permanently. Recipients have no adverse tax consequences, obligations or strings attached.

    Medical debt relief is a gift from a detached and disinterested third party (Undue) 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.

  • No. The debt is being relieved as a gift to the recipient. Nothing is expected in return.

  • Undue Medical Debt buys the debt of those who:

    • Earn less than 4x the federal poverty level
    • Debts are 5 percent or more of annual income.

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

    They never collect on debt purchased, only forgive it.

  • Undue Medical Debt cannot relieve debt by individual request.

    Undue cannot abolish medical debt for specific individuals. They acquire large, bundled portfolios of debt to help thousands of people at once and they can only erase debts that providers like hospitals and physicians are willing to sell to them.

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

  • If you received a letter in the mail from Undue and would like a copy, please get in touch with your full name and address and we will resend the letter.

  • Undue Medical Debt receives demographic information about individuals who have had their debt relieved in order to confirm their identity and send letters explaining that their debt is no longer owed. This information is securely stored and only handled by those with HIPAA compliance training.

  • Undue's abolishment cycles are conducted biweekly. Upon receipt of a donation, it is added into the latest abolishment cycle, which may take a two- three-week period for the donation to be fully processed and abolished. Donors will receive the Debt Fulfillment Report (DFR), while notification letters are dispatched to beneficiaries approximately two weeks after the DFR is received.

What to expect:

You don't need to apply. Medical debt relief is source-based, depending on community-minded providers like hospitals who choose to engage. Undue Medical Debt performs an analysis of hospital debt portfolios and identifies qualifying accounts. Those benefiting from medical debt relief receive an official letter or email from Undue Medical Debt. Please note that the letter is legitimate, and not a scam, if it is branded from Undue Medical Debt. You can find more information about the organization at unduemedicaldebt.org. There is no action required from recipients. 

The debt forgiven was sourced from local hospitals, which wish to remain anonymous but are committed to community benefit and making health care accessible. This is a one-time abolishment to help remove the financial and emotional burden of unpayable medical debts.

    • Phishing scams are attempts by cybercriminals to trick you into revealing sensitive personal information. They often use emails or websites that appear to be legitimate.
    • Scammers may attempt to steal information by impersonating Undue Medical Debt to collect personal and financial details and divert donations. Because Undue Medical Debt is a nonprofit that solicits donations, fraudulent websites may mimic Undue Medical Debts’ official donation website page to misdirect intended contributions.
    • Check URLs or website addresses carefully. Always verify the address before entering any personal or sensitive information.
    • Do not click on suspicious links in email messages or from unknown sources.
    • Watch out for warning signs. Legitimate websites typically will not have spelling or grammatical errors. Be suspicious or urgent calls to action, threats or promises of immediate rewards or penalties.
    • Medical debt is automatically abolished. You will never be asked for personal or financial information.
    • If you suspect a phishing attempt, do not respond to the email message or click on any links. Never provide personal or financial information. And forward the email or suspicious website URL to info@unduemedicaldebt.org.