American church pays of medical debt for 500 households

A Church in the United States has raised $550,000 and paid off medical bills for people in their area, Relevant Magazine reports.

The First-Plymouth Congregational Church of Lincoln, Nebraska, received donations from over 10,000 people over a year. They have used this money to help around 500 households in the surrounding community. The church initially hoped to raise $8,000 for the purpose of wiping out the debts.

Jim Keck is First-Plymouth Congregational Church’s senior pastor.

“The church decided that there were too many homes right in our neighborhood that were saddled with medical debt,” he said in his Easter sermon.

“The church decided that every dime that went into the collection plate … would go to forgive the medical debt of homes right here in central Lincoln.”

The campaign, began in March 2022. It aimed to erase medical debt in the Near South Neighborhood and surrounding communities by committing loose offerings until Easter 2023. The church worked on this alongside the Debtor’s Defense Project.

The church has retired the debts of over 500 homes in it’s surrounding neighbourhood. Church leadership received anonymised profiles from a debt collector so as to best direct funds.

“There was no screening of people, whether gay, straight, transgender, what race, what religion. It was an act of pure inclusion, which is such a central ethic here,” Rev. Keck said.

“This is like the Lord’s Prayer in action to forgive us our debts.” Medical debt is a significant problem in the United States. According to analysis of government data performed by the Kaiser family foundation, roughly 23 million people owe more than $250 due to health costs.