“Millions of people are on payment plans or declaring bankruptcy that they don't have to pay because they have no idea that these programs exist.” Jared Walker, founder of Dollar For
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Crush Medical Bills: Dollar For
This week's speaker, Jared Walker, founded Dollar For in 2012 in Portland, Oregon. Dollar For was born out of a desire to help people in medical crisis after watching his own family's experience. A medical crisis should not lead to a financial crisis. Jared is on a mission to crush as many medical bills as he can while making charity care known, easy and fair.
Millions of Americans are on payment plans or declaring bankruptcy for bills that they should not have to pay. The 2010 Affordable Care Act includes an often-overlooked provision: nonprofit hospitals must offer financial assistance programs in order to show a community benefit and keep their tax-exempt status. Known as charity care, these programs reduce or eliminate medical bills for low-to-middle income patients. Walker explains that the power is in the hands of the hospitals.
There is almost no federal oversight of charity care and so most hospitals do the bare minimum to educate patients about these programs and forgive their bills. A recent study showed that 72% of nonprofit hospitals spent less on charity care and community investment than they received in tax breaks. Combined, nonprofit hospitals in 2018 received $17 billion in tax breaks that were not passed on as community benefits.
Dollar For crushes medical debt by making charity care known, easy and fair. We educate patients about these programs, help patients navigate the application process, and call out hospitals that don’t comply with regulations. To date, Dollar For has secured over $22 million in debt forgiveness.
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
Synthesized speech using: Speechelo
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