Undue Medical Debt

05/15/2026

1.2 million fewer people signed up for ACA coverage this year compared to last. Nebraska just became the first state to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients. And enrollment is expected to drop by millions more as higher premiums push people out.

Here's what that means in real terms: more people skipping care they need, more surprise bills they can't pay, and more medical debt piling up in communities that were already stretched thin.

We know how this plays out. When coverage shrinks, medical debt grows. Every person who loses coverage or gets priced out becomes more exposed to the billing system that created this crisis in the first place.

Affordable, comprehensive coverage is the only real prevention for medical debt. It takes patients out of the financial equation entirely. Without it, we're left treating the symptoms while the problem gets worse.

We'll keep erasing debt for as long as it takes. But debt relief is an intervention, not a solution. The system has to change. 💙

05/14/2026

Naomi needed to see a doctor. But she couldn't afford the charge, not on top of the monthly bills that don't stop.

The debt became a black cloud. Always there. Always weighing on her, even when she wasn't thinking about it.

We erased $895 of Naomi's medical debt.

"I felt so much stress leave my body that I did not even realize I had been carrying. I feel like I can put my money toward school again."

That's what debt relief can do. It doesn't just erase a balance. It creates options. 💙

05/12/2026

This scene from Beef nails something we hear all the time: people don’t understand their health insurance until they need it.

Nearly 88% of workers with employer coverage now have a deductible. 1 in 5 are sitting on $3,000 or more before insurance pays a dime.

And when people can’t afford that upfront cost? They skip care. They delay treatment. They end up with medical debt.

This isn’t a personal failure. It’s a system that was never built to be understood.

Since 2014, we’ve abolished over $40.7 billion in medical debt for more than 27.3 million people. But debt relief is an intervention, not a solution. The real fix is affordable, comprehensive coverage that takes patients out of the financial equation. 💙

05/09/2026

Four U.S. senators are demanding answers after a ProPublica investigation found credit bureaus have been fixing fewer errors on people's credit reports.

Here's why this matters for medical debt: even as states pass laws banning medical debt from credit reports, the bureaus responsible for actually removing it are doing less, not more, to correct errors. People who've had their debt erased or who qualify for removal can still find it sitting on their reports, dragging down their scores and blocking them from housing, loans and jobs.

One woman spent nearly a year trying to remove a $240,000 debt she didn't owe. Her credit score dropped 85 points. She had to sue to get it fixed.

Over 4 million credit reporting complaints were filed last year. When the system meant to catch mistakes stops working, the people already buried in medical debt pay the price twice.

Four senators wrote letters to Experian and TransUnion, requesting information on the companies’ dispute handling processes after ProPublica revealed they have been dismissing more consumer complaints without providing help.

05/07/2026

Seven surgeries in 10 years. A cancer diagnosis. Serious infections. And another back surgery on the way.

That's what Michael has been through. He and his wife Deborah live on social security in Kingsport, Tennessee, and covering it all has felt impossible.

We erased $1,915 of their medical debt.

Deborah shared their story on Michael's behalf: "We live on social security, and it has not been possible to pay all our bills. We are grateful to you for your kindness."

No one should have to choose between getting care and staying afloat. Learn more about how we erase medical debt at https://unduemedicaldebt.org/solutions-to-buy-medical-debt/ 💙

05/04/2026

New reporting from The New York Times shows how quickly rising health insurance costs are forcing people to make painful choices.

The article reports that marketplace enrollment may be down roughly 20% since federal tax credits expired. For some people, premiums have gone up by $1,000 a month or more.

For families, that can mean choosing between health coverage and rent. Between filling a prescription and buying groceries. Between going to the doctor and hoping things don’t get worse.
This is how medical debt grows.

When coverage becomes unaffordable, people lose insurance, move into plans with much higher deductibles or delay the care they need.

At Undue, we erase medical debt because people need relief now. But the real solution is affordable, comprehensive coverage that lets people get care without fearing the bill that comes after.

Link to the reporting in comments.

05/02/2026

May is here and we're making every dollar count!

All month long, every gift to Undue is matched. But if you give to one of our ten priority states, your donation is triple-matched, thanks to a generous supporter. That means $1 becomes $300 of real medical debt erased for real families.

Our priority states: Texas, Florida, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Virginia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia and Tennessee.

This is our most aggressive push yet to bring relief where it's needed most. Make your gift go 3x further this month. Find the link in the comments and donate. 💙

04/30/2026

Ahriel lives with sickle cell anemia. Frequent hospital visits. Stays that last 3 to 7 days. Doctor's appointments that never stop.

She has a good job. She has good health insurance. And she's still paying off a hospital bill from 2017.

"As a single, independent woman, these unexpected medical bills can take years to pay off."

We erased $1,011 of Ahriel's medical debt. Because insurance alone isn't enough when the system still leaves patients with costs they can't afford.

The only real prevention for medical debt is affordable, comprehensive coverage that takes patients out of the financial equation entirely. 💙

04/29/2026

Getting a handwritten letter from a Governor hits different when it’s about erasing medical debt for hundreds of thousands of people. 💙

called our Illinois medical debt relief program “historic” — and we have to agree. This partnership with Cook County Health has helped so many Illinoisans get out from under debt they never should have had in the first place.

This is what it looks like when government and nonprofits work together to fix a broken system. We’re proud of this work, and we’re just getting started.

04/29/2026

A law designed to protect patients from surprise medical bills is now being used to charge $440,000 for a single breast reduction surgery.

The No Surprises Act was a win for patients. It stopped out-of-network doctors from sending you a bill you never saw coming. That part worked.

But the arbitration system it created? Doctors have flooded it with millions of claims, and they're winning 88% of the time. Some are collecting fees hundreds of times higher than what they'd normally earn.

Health plans are raising premiums to cover the costs. And guess who pays for that.

This is what happens when the system treats healthcare like a transaction instead of a right. Every loophole, every workaround, every billing trick lands on the same people: patients and families already stretched thin.

Medical debt doesn't start with one bad bill. It starts with a system that was never built to protect you.

📰 Read more via The New York Times (link in the caption)