CENTRAL FLORIDA — More than 160 thousand Central Floridians will open mail in the next few days and learn their medical debt has been wiped away!
The non-profit Undue Medical Debt announced that the organization is erasing over $725 million in medical debt for more than 623,000 people across the state of Florida.
According to the non-profit, residents will receive letters notifying them about the amount of debt canceled and where the debt was held. Once you receive a letter, the non-profit says no action is needed, just store the letter for your records.
The announcement comes after Orange County Government partnered with the non-profit in 2025, canceling over $559 million in medical debt and using leftover COVID cash to provide relief to 345,000 Orange County residents.
Bill Waxman said he couldn’t believe what he was reading when he received a letter stating more than $6,521.61 of his medical debt had been abolished.
“I had to read it twice. I almost fell on the floor when I got it,” said Waxman.
The retired restaurant manager said after a lifesaving surgery ten years ago, the medical bills have continued to stack up.
He said once the debt collectors started calling, he had to decide between paying for utilities or his medical care.
“I was afraid of the hospital bill, the emergency room bill, and the surgery bill. So, I was like, well, what am I gonna do? Maybe I can take care of this myself,” said Bill.
Over the last several months Bill has received two additional debt cancellation letters. In total he said more than $15 thousand of his medical debt has been wiped away through the partnership between Undue Medical Debt and Orange County Government.
The organization has now expanded relief to the rest of the state.
The non-profit said the debt relief cannot be requested or applied for because it is sourced based. A mix of donors, including individuals and grass roots organizations, provided unrestricted funding for this round of debt relief.
According to the organization, the debt was held by a mix of hospital/health system, physicians’ groups and collection agencies.
Per the organization,
To qualify, Floridians must either have an annual income at or below 400% of the federal poverty level (around $100,000 a year for a family of three) or medical debt that exceeds 5% of their annual income.
The organization says qualifying Florida residents will receive a letter with Undue Medical Debt’s logo on the envelope. The letter will indicate which debts have been erased. FAQ here: UndueMedicalDebt.org/faq
Since the organization works directly with the debt holders, the organization says they are able to turn one donated dollar into $100 of medical debt relieved on average. You can learn how to support the non-profit here.
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