More than 34,000 Essex County residents will have some or all of their past-due medical bills erased through a nonprofit partnership providing more than $38 million in relief across eastern Massachusetts.
Essex County accounts for $18.6 million of the total, the largest allocation among seven counties, according to an Oct. 22 announcement from Undue Medical Debt. No figures were released specifically for Andover or North Andover.
The effort involves the Atrius Health Equity Foundation, Undue Medical Debt and the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association. Notification letters were expected to begin going out the week of Oct. 26 in Undue Medical Debt-branded envelopes.
Recipients do not need to apply, respond or pay anything. Their letters identify which debts have been cleared.
The program considers people whose income is at or below four times the federal poverty level or whose medical debt equals at least 5% of annual income. Relief also depends on whether the nonprofit can acquire their debt from participating providers or collection agencies.
Meeting the financial criteria does not guarantee assistance. Relief cannot be requested, and only the debts identified in a recipient’s letter are erased. Related negative credit-report entries will be removed where applicable.
Individual amounts range from $5 to $86,000, the organizations said.
“Medical debt not only impacts families’ long-term financial future, but also makes people reluctant to seek care,” said Dr. Ann Hwang, president of the Atrius Health Equity Foundation.
Nearly 70,000 residents will receive relief in this round. The partnership has erased more than $293 million in medical debt since 2024.
