Annapolis Church Wipes Out $2M In Medical Debt For Strangers

From Revolution Annapolis: Revolution Annapolis, a church in Annapolis, partnered with the non-profit organization RIP Medical Debt to purchase and forgive $1,893,288.73 of medical debt from 14 counties in central and eastern Maryland. More than 900 families have been impacted by this act of no-strings-attached generosity, according to a news release from the church.

The money for the effort--an amount of more than $15,000--was raised by Revolution Annapolis during the Christmas season last year and included donations from individuals throughout the United States. It was then donated to RIP Medical Debt, a non-profit organization that purchases medical debt from collections at a discounted price. By coordinating beforehand, Revolution Annapolis was able to focus their debt relief on their local community first, beginning by purchasing all of the available debt in Anne Arundel County. Then, as their fundraising efforts grew, they were able to increase the radius and impact of their project to a reach and scale they never anticipated.

Recipients of this relief were sent letters informing them that their debt has been forgiven on March 25. The amounts of the individual gifts vary: some recipients had relatively small bills of a few hundred dollars forgiven, whereas other recipients had debts forgiven of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

No matter the amount, there are no strings attached to any of these gifts: recipients do not
face any tax consequences or legal expenses, nor are they subjected to any expectations or advertisements from either RIP Medical or Revolution Annapolis. Relief letters were all sent anonymously, and according to Revolution Annapolis lead pastor Kenny Camacho, that is an important part of the vision: “Forgiving medical debt is not part of a strategy to get people to attend or give to local churches. We know that there are strings attached to almost everything we do these days: everything you buy, everything you search for online, becomes part of the next advertisement you see. Revolution wants to resist the idea that the church is just another business: the church should exist so that people can have hope, period,” he said in a statement.

Revolution hopes that churches and other community organizations around the country will be inspired to follow their lead in their own communities. If one relatively small church can have such a dramatic impact on one of the most densely-populated parts of the country, the impact of larger churches and more resourced philanthropic organizations could be tremendous. Medical debt continues to be one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the United States; it is within our power to eliminate this problem for good.

For Revolution, the next step is building a coalition of other local church and non-profit organizations to climb the “debt ladder,” purchasing and forgiving debt earlier in the collections process and working directly with hospitals to buy and forgive medical debt at its source. To get involved in this effort, you can contact Revolution Annapolis lead pastor Kenny Camacho at kenny@revolutionannapolis.com.

Counties reached and the amounts of local debt forgiven include: Anne Arundel ($346,675.40), Baltimore ($273,504.78), Baltimore City ($260,136.94), Calvert ($18,877.10), Caroline ($3,792.92), Carroll ($71,351.25), Charles ($25,163.91), Dorchester ($6,163.17), Frederick ($68,249.59), Montgomery ($370,708.18), Prince George’s ($321,793.88), Queen Anne’s ($46,227.10), Talbot ($17,306.10), and Wicomico ($63,338.42).