{"id":44486,"date":"2023-01-20T06:18:22","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T06:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/churches-help-pay-off-over-60-million-in-medical-debt\/"},"modified":"2023-01-20T06:18:22","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T06:18:22","slug":"churches-help-pay-off-over-60-million-in-medical-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/churches-help-pay-off-over-60-million-in-medical-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"Churches Help Pay Off Over $60 Million in Medical Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Something didn\u2019t sit right with the congregation of Okemos Community Church after they spent $1.6 million for much-needed renovations to their nearly 185-year-old building.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe really needed to have structural and accessibility and asbestos abatement and a number of issues done,\u201d said the Rev. Rick Blunt, a United Methodist and senior pastor of the interdenominational Okemos, Michigan, church. \u201cIt\u2019s just that it is not in the DNA of this congregation to spend money on itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a counterbalance, Blunt made a goal of forgiving $1.6 million in medical debt in their community through\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ripmedicaldebt.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">RIP Medical Debt<\/a>, a nonprofit based in Long Island, New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By raising $15,000 during their campaign, Okemos retired more than $2.2 million in long-term medical debt for Michigan families making less than $55,000 for a family of four or whose medical debt is greater than 5% of household income.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>RIP Medical Debt helped Okemos accomplish this feat by buying up medical debts from collection agencies, hospitals and\u00a0physician\u00a0groups in large, bundled portfolios for pennies on the dollar. \u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"julie-content\" id=\"julie-431862715\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;\">Give a gift of any amount to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive \u201cIn the House of Friends: Understanding and Healing from Spiritual Abuse in Christian Churches\u201d by Kenneth Garrett. To donate, <a href=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/donate\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">click here<\/a>.<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen I walked in the door, we had just hit $1 billion of retired medical debt,\u201d said\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ripmedicaldebt.org\/person\/allison-sesso\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Allison Sesso<\/a>, a United Methodist who has been president and CEO of RIP since 2020. \u201cBy the end of (2022) or early 2023, we\u2019re going to get to\u00a0$10 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RIP was founded in 2014 by Craig Antico and Jerry Ashton, two former debt collection executives who were inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement to protest economic inequality. Ashton is retired but still on the RIP board. Antico is now CEO of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/forgiveco.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">ForgiveCo<\/a>\u00a0in Fort Collins, Colorado, which recruits businesses to pay off debts in exchange for the consumer goodwill it earns them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_38232\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38232\" style=\"width: 690px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38232\" alt=\"RIP medical debt\" width=\"690\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton.jpg 690w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-400x275.jpg 400w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-560x385.jpg 560w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-600x412.jpg 600w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px\" src=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton.jpg\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38232\" src=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton.jpg\" alt=\"RIP medical debt\" width=\"690\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton.jpg 690w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-400x275.jpg 400w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-560x385.jpg 560w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sesso-ashton-600x412.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38232\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Allison Sesso, president and CEO of RIP Medical Debt, is pictured with RIP co-founder Jerry Ashton (Photo courtesy of RIP Medical Debt.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>RIP has been featured on John Oliver\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment\/tv\/la-et-st-john-oliver-medical-debt-20160606-snap-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">\u201cLast Week Tonight,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0when the comedian\u2019s show utilized RIP to pay off consumer debts of nearly $15 million in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2018, RIP has collaborated with 130 United Methodist churches on medical debt abolishment, donating $608,000. That\u2019s a face-value impact of over $60 million of medical debt relieved, said Daniel Lempert, vice president of communications for RIP.<\/p>\n<p>The Rev. Harriet Bryan, senior pastor of Madison Street United Methodist Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, found out about the program during a local news broadcast.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought, \u2018Churches could do that, too,\u2019\u201d Bryan said. The church has done two RIP campaigns so far, raising enough to wipe out $4 million of medical debt in Tennessee and Mississippi.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have the good fortune of serving a church with resources,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so I wouldn\u2019t say that there are a large number of people who have struggled with medical debt, but there is an awareness that that is a crushing burden for a lot of folks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Wahoo First United Methodist Church in Wahoo, Nebraska, the Rev. Michael Carpenter said the 150<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0birthday of the church led to a campaign with RIP Medical Debt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to do something for others as well (for the anniversary), not just bless the folks in the church,\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cDuring our brainstorming, the concept of Jubilee in Leviticus came up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Leviticus 25, people are instructed to forgive debts every 50 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe church latched onto that concept in the Bible of the Jubilee,\u201d he said. \u201cThat led me to a friend of mine back in the Oklahoma Conference \u2026 who had done a medical debt forgiveness campaign, back probably in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI reached out to them, and then got put in touch with RIP Medical Debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The congregation raised more than $15,000 for the effort.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRIP Medical Debt promises they\u2019ll forgive at least 100 times what you raise, so $1.5 million resonated with our 150<sup>th <\/sup>anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Wahoo First\u2019s case, Carpenter said,\u00a0RIP Medical Debt was able to buy significantly more because of factors such as the age of the debt and different market conditions. The church\u2019s campaign led to more than $3.5 million in medical debt forgiveness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been huge for our congregation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_38234\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38234\" style=\"width: 690px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38234\" alt=\"wahoo medical debt\" width=\"690\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo.jpg 690w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-560x400.jpg 560w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-600x429.jpg 600w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px\" src=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo.jpg\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38234\" src=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo.jpg\" alt=\"wahoo medical debt\" width=\"690\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo.jpg 690w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-560x400.jpg 560w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UMC-Wahoo-600x429.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38234\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rev. Michael Carpenter, pastor of Wahoo First United Methodist Church in Nebraska, looks on as children from the church display the amount of medical debt ($3,526,733) the congregation helped pay off through its RIP Medical Debt campaign. (Photo courtesy of Wahoo First United Methodist Church.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For the most part, the churches don\u2019t know exactly who they have helped, unless they are contacted by recipients.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are always like, \u2018Who are we helping?\u2019\u201d Blunt said.\u201d \u201cIf one of them were to contact the church, then you would know, but that would be totally up to them. \u2026 But ultimately that protects people\u2019s dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RIP can target a particular geographical area for a campaign, and also provide a breakdown of how many were helped in each county of a state, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Wahoo First has been energized to do more from the medical debt effort, Carpenter said. A summer \u201cPizza in the Park\u201d ministry fed some 4,500 children in the community last summer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was received well, and then we just launched a couple months ago a new ministry called \u2018Laundry Church,\u2019\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cWe had a whole bunch of folks in the church just bring all their spare change, converted it to quarters and camped down at the local laundromat and paid for folks\u2019 laundry and (so we were) in community with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ultimate goal is for RIP to become unnecessary because the societal issue gets fixed, Sesso said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(RIP) is always going to be laser-focused on the issue of medical debt because, frankly, we have our hands full there,\u201d she said. \u201cOn the one hand, I want to help people because I know that the system is broken. At the same time, I want to make sure that we are talking about the fact we shouldn\u2019t exist as an institution, and that there should be larger solutions to this problem that are beyond me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to be actively participating in conversations around bigger solutions, and the impact that not solving this problem is having on individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This article originally appeared at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.umnews.org\/en\/news\/churches-help-pay-off-medical-debt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">UM News<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Jim Patterson is a UM News reporter in Nashville, Tennessee.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\nif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\nn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script',\n'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '302522100795927');\nfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><script id='heateor_sss_sharing_js-js-before'>\nfunction heateorSssLoadEvent(e) {var t=window.onload;if (typeof window.onload!=\"function\") {window.onload=e}else{window.onload=function() {t();e()}}};\tvar heateorSssSharingAjaxUrl=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\", heateorSssCloseIconPath=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/sassy-social-share\/public\/..\/images\/close.png\", heateorSssPluginIconPath=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/sassy-social-share\/public\/..\/images\/logo.png\", heateorSssHorizontalSharingCountEnable = 1, heateorSssVerticalSharingCountEnable = 0, heateorSssSharingOffset = -10; var heateorSssMobileStickySharingEnabled = 0;var heateorSssCopyLinkMessage = \"Link copied.\";var heateorSssReduceHorizontalSvgWidth = true;var heateorSssUrlCountFetched = [], heateorSssSharesText=\"Shares\", heateorSssShareText=\"Share\";function heateorSssPopup(e) {window.open(e,\"popUpWindow\",\"height=400,width=600,left=400,top=100,resizable,scrollbars,toolbar=0,personalbar=0,menubar=no,location=no,directories=no,status\")}function heateorSssInitiateFB() {FB.init({appId:\"\",channelUrl:\"\",status:!0,cookie:!0,xfbml:!0,version:\"v9.0\"})}window.fbAsyncInit=function() {heateorSssInitiateFB(),0&&(FB.Event.subscribe(\"edge.create\",function(e) {heateorSsmiMycredPoints(\"Facebook_like_recommend\",\"\",e?e:\"\")}),FB.Event.subscribe(\"edge.remove\",function(e) {heateorSsmiMycredPoints(\"Facebook_like_recommend\",\"\",e?e:\"\",\"Minus point(s) for undoing Facebook like-recommend\")}) ),0&&(FB.Event.subscribe(\"edge.create\",function(e) {heateorSsgaSocialPluginsTracking(\"Facebook\",\"Like\",e?e:\"\")}),FB.Event.subscribe(\"edge.remove\",function(e) {heateorSsgaSocialPluginsTracking(\"Facebook\",\"Unlike\",e?e:\"\")}) )},function(e) {var n,i=\"facebook-jssdk\",o=e.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0];e.getElementById(i)||(n=e.createElement(\"script\"),n.id=i,n.async=!0,n.src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\",o.parentNode.insertBefore(n,o) )}(document);;var heateorSssWhatsappShareAPI = \"web\";\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/__i\/rss\/rd\/articles\/CBMiRGh0dHBzOi8vanVsaWVyb3lzLmNvbS9jaHVyY2hlcy1oZWxwLXBheS1vZmYtNjAtbWlsbGlvbi1tZWRpY2FsLWRlYnQv0gEA?oc=5\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Something didn\u2019t sit right with the congregation of Okemos Community Church after they spent $1.6 million for much-needed renovations to their nearly 185-year-old building. \u201cWe really needed to have structural and accessibility and asbestos abatement and a number of issues done,\u201d said the Rev. Rick Blunt, a United Methodist and senior pastor of the interdenominational &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[161],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44486"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}