Jerry Ashton visited with us to let us know that RIP Medical Debt has now liquidated over $2 Billion in medical debt. He also enumerated the four things that make this world better for us all.
Jerry Ashton: RIP Medical Debt
RIP Medical Debt was founded in 2014 by two former debt collections executives, Craig Antico and Jerry Ashton.
Over the course of decades in the debt-buying industry, Craig and Jerry met with thousands of Americans saddled with unpaid and un-payable medical debt and realized they were uniquely qualified to help these people in need.
They used their expertise and compassion to create a unique way to forgive medical debt: they would use donations to buy large bundles of medical debt and then forgive that debt with no tax consequences to donors or recipients. From this idea came RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based 501(C)(3). The results have been spectacular— $2,689,616,823 in medical debts eradicated so far, providing financial relief for over 1,819,000 individuals and families.
Medical debt destroys the financial stability of large segments of America’s most vulnerable communities: the sick, the elderly, the poor, and veterans. It also targets the middle class, driving many families who are barely getting along into poverty. Medical debt isn’t the result of bad decisions. It’s a debt of necessity.
By forgiving this debt they strive to give struggling individuals, and their families, a fresh start. They hope to give those affected the ability to seek the continued medical care they need and help them back towards financial stability.