Connecticut is working to relieve the often-overwhelming burden of medical debt by enlisting a nonprofit that crunches that debt, easing costs for thousands of families.
“What we do is we buy those debts for pennies on the dollar,” said Allison Sesso, president and CEO of the nonprofit, Undue Medical Debt, which negotiates a price with providers, buys and then cancels the debt, which is sold at a fraction of its face value because it’s held by those who are least able to pay.
In the first round of the relief effort, the state is spending $100 thousand in federal funds to wipe out a total of $30 million in medical debt for 23 thousand residents. $6.5 million has been set aside for the long-term effort to…
