This week, Governor Phil Murphy announced the state, in partnership with Undue Medical Debt was utilizing $900,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to abolish the medical debt of 77,000 New Jersey residents.
Undue has worked with the Atlantic Health System to identify and purchase qualifying, unpayable medical debts. Impacted residents may have all or some of their debts abolished as part of the Governor’s mission to make health care more affordable and accessible. Through the State’s partnership with Undue, $220 million in medical debt has been eliminated for 127,000 New Jersey residents so far.
Those who qualify for medical debt relief are either four times or below the federal poverty level or have medical debts that equal 5% or more of their annual income. These are the only criteria for relief. For this round of debt abolishment, medical debt relief is source-based, depending on community-minded providers like hospitals who choose to engage.
The Governor’s Disaster Recovery Office tracks how the State has spent federal recovery funds and notes what is yet to be obligated and spent.
As a reminder, American Rescue Plan State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds that were sent to municipalities in 2022 need to be obligated by the end of this year and spent by the end of 2026. For more information, see the National League of Cities blog post.
Contact: Paul Penna, Senior Legislative Analyst, ppenna@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x110.