Cook County has made significant strides in alleviating medical debt for local residents, recently announcing the erasure of nearly $665 million since the launch of the initiative in 2022.
The program has already benefited almost 557,000 individuals, with significant relief provided primarily to those living on the South and West sides of Chicago, as well as in the surrounding suburbs.
Average debts erased range between approximately $600 and $4,000, depending on the residents’ locations, highlighting the program’s targeted impact across different communities.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle expressed the importance of this initiative, linking its success to broader federal efforts aimed at mitigating the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This has been a real boon to a substantial number of our residents,” Preckwinkle remarked.
She further noted that the program aligns with the intentions of previous federal leadership, aimed at addressing the significant health and economic crises that have arisen due to the pandemic.
The partnership between Cook County and the nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt has been pivotal to this success.
By purchasing outdated, uncollectable hospital bills for mere pennies on the dollar, the nonprofit forgives substantial amounts of medical debt.
Leaders from Undue Medical Debt have shared that for every dollar spent, they can potentially erase about $100 or more in medical debt.
Looking ahead, Cook County plans to allocate a total of $9 million received from federal COVID-19 relief funds towards the goal of erasing up to $1 billion in medical debt by the end of 2026.
Currently, about two-thirds of this funding has already been utilized, as stated by Matt Richards, Cook County’s deputy chief of staff for health.
Medical debt remains a widespread issue even among those with private insurance, attributed largely to the burdensome deductibles that must be paid out-of-pocket before insurance coverage begins.
According to research by KFF, a nonprofit health policy organization, approximately 20 million Americans—nearly 1 in 12—carry medical debt, which has emerged as one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the United States.
A recent report highlights the severe toll that medical debt takes on families in Illinois, particularly in immigrant and Black communities, exacerbating stress that negatively affects their health and financial stability.
Richards pointed out, “It’s an extremely common reality for families around the country and in Cook County.”
He emphasized that communities of color, especially Black residents in historically under-invested areas, are disproportionately affected by medical debt.
The program does not require residents to apply; instead, they receive notifications by mail informing them of their debt reductions.
Eligibility criteria include having an income of up to 400% of the federal poverty level, estimated at around $62,000 for an individual, or medical debt that accounts for at least 5% of their annual income.
Initially, Cook County aimed to invest $12 million in its medical debt relief initiative but adjusted the budget following the state’s announcement of its own debt relief program available to county residents.
As federal funding approaches exhaustion, Preckwinkle indicated the county would evaluate the possibility of continuing its medical debt relief program once the current resources are depleted.
image source from：https://www.wbez.org/health-medicine/2025/06/05/cook-county-erases-nearly-665-million-in-medical-debt-for-more-than-a-half-million-residents
