All Week Long
Originally published on chicago.suntimes.com 05/10/23 | Photo: Catherine Odom/Sun-Times
Cook County resident Amy Medina-Quevedo received what you might call the opposite of a bill recently.
The letter she was sent said Medina-Quevedo, who has Type 1 diabetes, would receive a break through Cook County’s Medical Debt Relief Initiative.
The 32-year-old Palatine resident will no longer have to pay $325 in debt acquired from 2014 to 2016. Medina-Quevedo has been paying off medical bills and debt since her diagnosis in 2010.
Originally published on https://www.engagecookcounty.com/mdri
Under the leadership of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, we’ve created the Cook County Medical Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) with funding from the American Rescue Plan.
Across the country, people are swimming, and some are drowning, in medical debt. They have bills they can’t pay for many reasons. It may be they welcomed a new baby, got diagnostic tests after worrying news from their doctor, were rushed to an emergency room after an accident, or a myriad of other reasons. Today, medical debt is the number one reason for bankruptcy in the United States.
So, we decided to cancel as much of that debt as we can.
As the first local government to initiate an endeavor at this scale, Cook County is partnering with RIP Medical Debt - a national nonprofit that has erased debt for more than 3.6 million individuals and families so far. With just $12 million of our federal funds, they have the potential to negotiate the purchase of up to $1 billion in medical debt for Cook County residents and cancel it.
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Paid for by Preckwinkle for President. A copy of our report filed with the State Board of Elections is (or will be) available on the Board's official website, http://elections.il.gov/, or for purchase from the State Board of Elections, Springfield, Illinois. All contributions are reported to the State Board of Elections. Contributions are not accepted from employees of Cook County. Companies holding contracts with the Cook County are limited to $750.
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