Debt,

because of high costs of care or because it caused the person to be out of work. Families turn to bankruptcy because of medical issues and bills, ruining credit scores and crippling their families’ future hopes to purchase a home or secure a loan. Too often, medical events become financial catastrophes. RIP Medical Debt is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit whose sole purpose is to locate, purchase and then abolish unpaid and unpayable medical debt as a benefit to society as well as the recipient. Working with third-party credit data providers, RIP searches bundled debt portfolios to locate accounts meeting criteria for financial relief. RIP then negotiates to purchase the portfolios at a steep discount from the collection agencies that have been pursuing the debtors. The humanitarian difference is that once RIP buys this debt, it is forgiven on behalf of the donors. Those who qualify for RIP Debt Forgiveness are those who are earning less than 2 times the federal poverty level (varies by state and family size); those in financial hardship (out of pocket expenses 5% or more of their annual income); and those facing insolvency (debts are greater than assets). Medical debt relief is based on those debts available and unfortunately the nonprofit cannot relieve debts by request. Using these criteria, RIP Medical Debt identified $1.7 Million of medical debt in the 8 counties of Northern Indiana that are included in this campaign. Schumacher Family Medicine and Cardinal Family Medicine created their campaign to relieve debt in these 8 counties. Schumacher Family Medicine was founded in 2017 by Dr. Joel Schumacher in downtown Plymouth, Indiana. More information about direct primary care and SFM can be found at schumacherfamilymedicine.com. Cardinal Family Medicine is also a direct primary care family practice founded in 2016 by Drs. Matt and Janelle Pflieger, and is located in Huntington, Indiana. For more information, visit cardinalfamilymedicine.com.