With just a single commitment of $10,000, the St. John’s Charitable Trust was able to cancel over $1.2 million in medical debt for over 1800 members of the Peninsula community, the majority of whom reside in Hampton.
This project, whereby medical debt is cancelled for pennies on the dollar, is a program Samantha brought to the Trust’s attention after learning about it from a CNN article.
The program is quite simple. Companies like RIP Medical Debt (the company the Charitable Trust partnered with) and other third-party debt collectors may buy the medical debt from the initial party, like a hospital, doctor, or insurer, at a deeply discounted rate. Then, these companies can pursue collecting the full value of the debt from the debt holder. RIP Medical, however, seeks organizations and churches who will satisfy debts without pursuing the debt holders.
Once the Charitable Trust remitted payment to them, RIP notified the debt holder that the debt has been satisfied and erased, indicating St. John’s as the entity who made the forgiveness possible.
“This program offers an extraordinary way to provide important financial assistance that gives the recipient relief from crushing bills. It also lets them know that the church community cares about them. This can oftentimes be a life altering event. I’m so glad we were able to be part of this wonderful opportunity, and I hope other churches will consider participating,” stated the Reverend Samantha Vincent-Alexander, Rector of St. John’s Church.
Originally published in St. John’s Newsletter, September 2023.