As Floridians continue to grapple with rising healthcare costs and insurance premiums, Orange County announced Tuesday that it has exceeded its expectations for a medical debt relief initiative that the county first kicked off in 2024.
Since 2024, Orange County has erased $758 million in medical debt held by 515,000 county residents, according to a news release — more than the 500,000 they initially anticipated.
The debt relief is made possible through a contract with Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit that has partnered with more than two dozen local and state governments, as well as community and student groups, to eliminate the burden of medical debt.
Through a process of buying debt from debt collectors, hospitals and…