RIP Medical Debt has, since 2014, eliminated one billion dollars of the medical debt owed by Americans who have been often financially crippled by this kind of debt.
A chance encounter RIP Medical Debt’s other co-founder, Jerry Ashton, had with members of the New York City Occupy Movement in 2012 led to the organization’s inception. Both Antico and Ashton were debt collectors in the medical debt industry, where hospitals and other healthcare professionals pass along debts that they are unable to collect, and those debt portfolios are sold to debt collection companies, usually at pennies on the dollar.
Jerry Ashton
Ashton went outside his office building to learn more about the Occupy Movement, and ended up developing relationships with a number of the Movement’s leaders, some of whom had a specific interest in the crushing weight of medical debt on so many people, from so many income levels, in the nation. The Occupy leaders moved on to other topics, but Ashton and Antico had learned about the enormity of the problem, and had decided they were, because of their expertise, to evolve from being part of the problem to helping people who often experience financial ruin from medical debts.
“Then we had to figure out how to do that!” Antico says. “We had no non-profit experience, and there was no model to follow.”
Antico and Ashton experimented with ways to help, at very significant financial loss. “My wife thought I’d lost my mind, as we truly ran through all our savings as we set up this organization, and took out loans.” Antico says.
The organization’s big breakthrough was a report nighttime show host John Oliver presented on his program. “John Oliver talked about it, and our donations sky-rocketed!” Antico exclaims. Shortly after that, other news outlets such as the New York Times, CBS, The New Yorker, and others, began spotlighting RIP Medical Debt, and donations flowed, along with interest from associations and faith -based organizations who raised funds for RIP Medical Debt.
“We still conduct no outbound fundraising.” Antico states. “People will see a news story about us, and appreciate the extent of this very real crisis for families of all income brackets and demographic groupings around the country, and work with us to create a fundraising campaign.” The organization’s fundraising has doubled and tripled every year over the past four years.
For every ten dollars raised, RIP Medical Debt is able to eliminate about one thousand dollars in debt through purchasing that debt in the debt market.
“So far, roughly five hundred thousand families have had their debt eliminated!” Antico continues. “We send the family or individual a yellow envelope, which contains the surprise, the news that their medical debt is gone!”
“This is a random act of kindness.” Antico explains. “Our recipients are selected randomly, sometimes because the association or faith-based organization requests that people in a geographic area receive this assistance, sometimes because the folks raising funds belong to a group, such as the Massachusetts Nurses Association, who raise fifteen thousand dollars that was used to assist nurses in the state who had this kind of debt, or because the folks raising funds for us were specific to an illness or condition, and people who have that illness or condition.”
But the people at RIP Medical Debt never know specifically who they are assisting, with families and individuals selected without knowing names, strictly on the basis of data pulled together within the general perimeters.
“We’d encourage anyone, any association, foundation, or faith-based organization to contact us and discuss how they can be of our efforts to eliminate the next billion dollars in debt!” Antico says.
“We’re still working with just a small percentage of hospitals and healthcare providers, and really have just begun letting people know about what we do!”
“The Coronavirus will, sadly, affect so many individuals and families, and a percentage of those folks will incur medical debt through having to undergo treatments they have no health insurance to cover, and we anticipate an increase in the levels of medical debt throughout this year.” He says. “So we’re looking for more people to join our work!”
For additional information, or to learn more about how to organize a fundraising campaign, please visit their website: www.ripmedicaldebt.org.
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