Snap co-founder erases $550M medical debt for Californians
What's the story
Snap co-founder Evan Spiegel and his wife, supermodel Miranda Kerr, have donated millions to wipe out $550 million in medical debt for over 261,000 Californians. The contribution was made through Undue Medical Debt, a non-profit organization that buys and cancels medical debt portfolios at steep discounts. The move is similar to the philanthropic approach of MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos's ex-wife.
Strategy
Undue medical debt leverages the system of unpaid healthcare bills
Undue Medical Debt leverages the system of unpaid healthcare bills in the US.
Hospitals can sell large portfolios of unpaid medical debt at a fraction of their original value.
The non-profit buys qualifying debt at these discounted prices but doesn't try to collect from patients.
Instead, it cancels the debt, making a small charitable contribution capable of wiping out hundreds of millions worth medical bills.
Beneficiaries
Eligible residents started receiving letters in mid-July
The latest campaign by Undue Medical Debt focuses on vulnerable Californians, with Los Angeles and San Diego counties receiving some of the largest shares of assistance.
Eligible residents started receiving letters in mid-July informing them that their medical debt had been erased.
"The scale of this gift to Californians is truly astonishing, unburdening over a quarter million families of over half a billion dollars of unpayable medical debt," said Allison Sesso, president and CEO of Undue Medical Debt.