From your gift to a cancelled debt.
What happens at each step, and where it stands today.
You give
Once or every month. You get a receipt by email, and your gift supports our work to buy and cancel medical debt.
In progress
We buy medical debt
Unpaid medical bills are often sold in bulk. We buy them to cancel them, never to collect.
Not done yet
We cancel it
People no longer owe it, and nobody can collect on it any more.
Not done yet
People get a letter
We mail each person a letter with a code they can check on our website.
Not done yet
You see it here
We show it on our impact page: the date, the debt cancelled, how many people it reached and the state.
Not done yet
Why nobody can ask us to cancel one bill
Debts are sold in bundles, so we can't buy one person's bill on request. If you owe a medical bill now, there is help you can use today.
What cancelling medical debt does, and what it doesn't
It ends the obligation to pay that debt and stops collection on it. The only randomized study so far found no average improvement in health or financial well-being (Kluender, Mahoney, Wong and Yin, November 2024).
Read the evidenceQuestions about how it works.
Many old medical bills are never paid, so they are often sold in large groups. We buy medical debt in bulk and cancel it, so nobody can collect on it again.
DonatePeople whose debts are in the groups we buy. We can't buy one person's bill on request.
Check what help you may qualify forNo. Relief letters will come from The Medical Bill and will not name the people who gave.
DonateIn most cases a debt cancelled as a gift is not taxable income (IRS Publication 4681). Our own position will be reviewed by tax counsel. Talk to a tax professional if you are unsure.
Taxes and medical debt reliefWe have not mailed any relief letters yet. If you got a letter that says it is from The Medical Bill, it is not from us.
Check a letterHelp us cancel our first medical debt.
Your gift supports our work to buy and cancel medical debt. You will see every debt we cancel on this site.