Did you get a yellow envelope in the mail? You need to open it for a big holiday surprise
About 750 individuals in Manatee County who have been burdened by medical debt will see that debt disappear just in time for the holiday season.
That gift won’t come inside a big red bag being carried down a chimney by Santa Claus, though. It will come in the mail in form of a vague looking yellow envelope with only “RIP Medical Debt” noted on the top left corner.
It’s not a bill and it’s not a prank.
If you received the yellow envelope, your medical bills have been cleared so you’ll want to open it and read the good news.
It was all made possible by two local churches and RIP Medical Debt, which is a national nonprofit started by two former collection agency executives. The company takes local donations and then negotiates down the value of delinquent medical bills with area hospitals to about a penny on the dollar.
They target the area where the donations are received, do their due diligence and purchase that local debt using the donated funds, and wipe out those medical bills once and for all.
Palma Sola Presbyterian Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church raised $14,000. When given to RIP Medical Debt, it equates to more than $1.4 million in debt purchased at a significantly reduced value.
“If we as a church can lighten the burden of those with unpayable medical debit, ease their minds, help them have a more abundant life, that is what Jesus calls us to do,” said Ted Land, transitional pastor at Palma Sola Presbyterian Church.
Land said he learned of a church in Ohio that had raised enough money to erase the medical debt of every person in their county. Both local churches immediately embraced the idea.
RIP Medical Debt uses analytical data to target those with below poverty level incomes or whose debt is 5% more than their annual income.
The yellow envelopes will be arriving across Manatee County this week.
“We feel blessed to have had this opportunity to partner in such a significant way, and to share the love of Jesus Christ in our community,” Land said.
It’s an unusual way to deliver such good news when the envelope could be construed as just another collection notice headed for the trash can or someone assuming its just junk mail.
“A lot of debtors aren’t inclined to open their mail, and if or when they do read the RIP letter, it seems to be too good to be true,” said RIP Medical Debt media advisor Daniel Lempert.
There are no strings attached and an email address is offered in the letter only as a means for anyone wishing to acknowledge they have received the gift of medical debt relief. The email address isn’t for RIP Medical Debt, it’s for those in the community who raised the funds to make it all happen.