PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EarnIn, a pioneer in Earned Wage Access (EWA), announced today that they have abolished $22 million in medical debt, now alleviating $5.4 million for people living in Maricopa County, Arizona, home to Phoenix, which holds the fifth largest amount of medical debt in the country.
Healthcare costs in the United States have been rising for the last several decades, and paying off medical bills has become increasingly difficult for many Americans. Medical expenses are the biggest driver of bankruptcy in the US with two-thirds of bankruptcies citing medical debt as the leading cause. As EarnIn remains steadfast in their mission of making financial momentum accessible to everyone, this partnership was a logical next step for these efforts.
"After abolishing millions of dollars in medical debt in Bexar County, TX, we’re doing the same for Maricopa County residents,” said EarnIn CEO and Founder Ram Palaniappan. “With medical debt impacting millions of Americans, this is a natural way for EarnIn to impact people’s financial momentum and empower them to move forward with their life.”
EarnIn’s pledge includes plans to abolish additional medical debt in Clark County, Nevada later this year, and the company has already abolished $13.9 million in medical debt for Bexar County, Texas. These three southwestern states - Texas, Arizona, and Nevada - are ranked amongst those who have poor medical debt consumer protection policies, which include having inadequate levels of health insurance, financial assistance policies, and Medicaid.
Today’s medical debt relief was provided in partnership with RIP Medical Debt, a national nonprofit making a difference in the lives of those struggling with medical debt. The organization erases debts for households that earn four times, or below, the federal poverty level, and/or whose debt is 5% or more of their annual income. This ensures RIP Medical Debt is helping those most financially burdened by the medical debt crisis. Importantly, relief recipients will receive a letter in the mail informing them their debt has been abolished, and they should hold onto this letter for record keeping. Medical debt relief is source-based, meaning the nonprofit can only acquire qualifying debts from amenable providers like hospitals, physician groups or collection agencies and medical debt relief cannot be requested.
“Maricopa County residents that suffer under the financial and emotional weight of medical debt are forced to make difficult tradeoffs that prevent them from achieving economic stability,” said RIP Medical Debt’s President and CEO Allison Sesso. “We are grateful for the work that EarnIn is doing to abolish medical debt and enable people to advance their lives. These are debts of necessity and no one should be punished for wanting themselves (and their family) to be healthy.”
Maricopa County residents benefiting from this debt relief program will be notified with letters starting to arrive as early as Tuesday, October 10, 2023. Per Becker’s Hospital Review, over 15% of Maricopa residents suffer with medical debt, with the median amount of debt for residents being $923.
To learn more about EarnIn’s medical debt initiative, please visit earnin.com/medicaldebt.
About EarnIn
EarnIn lets you access your money as you earn it — not days or weeks later.
We're on a mission to reimagine the way money moves to empower every person’s potential. That starts with payday every day and builds with tools like automated Tip Yourself accounts1, Credit Monitoring, and Balance Shield2, a low-balance alert feature. All with no interest3, no credit checks4, and no mandatory fees5. So our customers have as many opportunities as possible to spend and save on their terms.
EarnIn’s pioneering Earned Wage Access app is backed by world-class partners like A16Z, Matrix Partners, and DST. Since our founding in 2013, 3.8 million customers have given it over 380,000 5-star reviews for helping them access over $15 billion in earnings.
Learn more at EarnIn.com
1Tip Yourself Account funds are held with Evolve Bank & Trust, member FDIC and FDIC insured up to $250,000. Tip Yourself is a 0% Annual Percentage Yield and $0 monthly fee service. Your Tip Yourself Account and any Tip Jars are not Savings Accounts. For more information/details visit https://www.earnin.com/evolve-bank-and-trust
2Balance Shield cash out is subject to your available earnings, Daily Max and Pay Period Max. Other restrictions and/or third-party fees may apply. For more information visit earnin.com/TOS.
3EarnIn does not charge interest on Cash Outs.
4Restrictions and/or third party fees may apply, see EarnIn.com/TOS for details.
5EarnIn does not charge hidden fees for use of its services.
