Thousands of Michiganders to have medical debt erased: who qualifies?

In a word: primarily urban debtors.

Especially those in SE MI, despite Fox 17's geographically-challenged claim that several West Michigan counties are in the top 10. (According to the Michigan.gov chart published in the article, only Kent County makes the list.)

Debt forgiveness is no doubt a relief to those who get it. Still, it's no solution for rising healthcare costs, and federal subsidies may even make it worse.

Michigan's project intersects interestingly with the recent federal ruling and conflicting state bills on credit reporting of medical debt 

https://www.fox17online.com/news/morning-news/thousands-of-michiganders-to-have-medical-debt-erased-who-qualifies

Thousands of Michiganders to have medical debt erased: who qualifies?

Andy Curtis    |    July 18, 2025

MICHIGAN — Hundreds of thousands of people in Michigan will soon receive letters in the mail informing them that their medical debt has been forgiven. State leaders want to assure the public: this is not a scam.

The state is erasing $144 million in medical debt, impacting more than 210,000 Michiganders.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that the state has partnered with the national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt for this initiative.

Qualifications for receiving this medical debt relief include:

• Individuals earning four times or less than the federal poverty level.
• Those with medical debts equaling 5 percent of their annual income.

This is not an application project, and people cannot request the assistance. Those chosen will just receive a notification letter from Undue Medical Debt.

So where does the money come from?

Undue Medical Debt acquires debt from hospitals, collection agencies, and other debt holders at a significant discount. They say in some cases, $1 can eliminate $100 in debt.

The nonprofit relies on donations and sometimes partners with local and state governments, utilizing funds from the American Rescue Plan.
For example, Kalamazoo County has already erased $2.5 million in medical debt for more than 7,000 people, using a $100,000 allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act to partner with the nonprofit.

West Michigan has several counties ranked in the top 10 receiving relief. Kent County has approximately 9,500 people with $9.6 million in debt, while Calhoun County has about 7,500 people with $3.9 million in debt.

Jen Strebs, chairperson of the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners, shared the story of one constituent who struggled with medical debt with Scripps News Group in Detroit. She said the fear of incurring more debt prevented him from seeking treatment, resulting in a serious infection and costing 23-year-old Naqua Atkinson his life.

"You know he had had serious diabetes most of his life. And he was suffering from a pretty severe toothache at work. And all of us were encouraging him to go and get it checked out. It was enough debt to make him fear going for care, and that's the reality for a lot of people."

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