By: Richard L. Smith
New Jersey officials announced another major round of medical debt forgiveness this week, wiping out $86 million in unpaid medical bills for more than 53,000 residents.
The latest action, part of the Murphy Administration’s partnership with national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt — brings total forgiven medical debt in the state to nearly $1.4 billion since the program began, benefiting more than 828,000 New Jerseyans.
Funded through roughly $600,000 in federal American Rescue Plan dollars, the program allows Undue to purchase bundled portfolios of past-due medical debt from hospitals and collection agencies for pennies on the dollar and then cancel it entirely….