Tampa Democratic Socialists help erase $2 million in medical debt for Hillsborough residents

Tampa Democratic Socialists Credit: Tampa Democratic Socialists/Facebook

The Tampa chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) surpassed its annual goal of cancelling millions of dollars in medical debt for Hillsborough County residents.

The local political action group Tampa and non-profit medical debt cancellation company Undue Medical Debt started the campaign together on January 24 to cancel burdensome medical debt for 2,479 Hillsborough County residents. Together they were able to cancel $2,717,249.57 worth of medical debt, says a press release.

This came after the organization fundraised with the goal of $10,000. Surpassing its initial goal, Tampa DSA reached $11,201 on May 24.

After launching its campaign at Deviant Libation’s third-year anniversary party, grassroots events like Bad Bad Things at Rock The Park and the Ybor City Labor Walking tour made strong headway towards reaching its fundraising goal of $10,000.

These events finally ended with the May Day benefit concert at Shuffle, raising $1,500 and finishing the campaign with $11,201.

How Undue eradicates medical debt by using data analytics to pinpoint the debt of households that earn less than four times the federal poverty level or whose debts are five percent or more of annual income, according to their website. The non-profit then negotiates and makes deals with medical debt agencies at a fraction of the original cost that would originally be worth millions of dollars.

According to Undue’s website, the usual amount of debt they procure relieves about 100 times its value in medical debt.

“We were expecting to cancel about $1 million in debt, so we were thrilled when we heard from Undue that the dollars we raised through the fundraiser were able to go towards canceling a greater amount of debt,” said Tampa chapter co-chair for the DSA, Sam May.

Based on a medical journal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the government organization estimates that Americans owe at least $194 billion in active collections for medical debt.

“Medical debt is silently burdening millions of people across our country and thousands in Tampa…,” said Tampa DSA member Magalys Oro-Fernandez in a statement. “We want to stop stressing over exorbitant bills and avoiding medical treatment because we cannot afford care. We want Medicare for All!”

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