New York City looks to clear $2 billion in unpaid medical bills for 500,000

New York City will purchase millions of dollars of medical debt and then erase it in effort to help as many as 500,000 residents, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday.

The program involves partnering with a nonprofit organization, RIP Medical Debt, that buys unpaid medical debt from hospitals at a steep discount and then clears it. 

Affected New Yorkers will be notified that their medical debt has been relieved, as there is no application process for the one-time debt relief program, which will launch early this year and run for three years.