Medical Debt Relief On The Way For 27,000 Mass. Residents, Including Some On Nantucket

About 27,000 Massachusetts residents - including some on Nantucket - will see all or part of their medical debt erased as part of a nonprofit effort to tackle widespread financial strain.

Just over $42 million in debt will be automatically eliminated under a partnership between Atrius Health Equity Foundation, national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt and the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association. Bay Staters did not apply for the relief, but were selected if their medical debt is at least 5 percent of their annual income or if they earn at or below four times the federal poverty level, the foundation said Monday.

"Debt relief for tens of thousands of burdened families is a powerful respite, and we're eager to continue working with partners in Massachusetts and beyond to lift this barrier to care and center patient needs," Undue Medical Debt CEO Allison Sesso said.

The nonprofit works with hospitals, health systems and physician groups to "purchase past due medical debts in large portfolios for pennies on the dollar and then erases the debt belonging to those least able to pay," the foundation said.

Letters announcing the relief will be mailed this week to 19,900 residents in Barnstable County; 1,860 in Plymouth County; and 1,400 in Middlesex County, the foundation said. Other recipients live in Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Nantucket, Norfolk and Suffolk counties. The average debt per recipient is $1,560.28, and individual debt amounts range from $50 to $100,000.

Residents don't need to take action, the foundation said. Undue Medical Debt did a "soft inquiry" into residents' credit history to determine eligibility, according to a sample letter.

A similar initiative last year wiped out $42 million in medical debt for more than 25,000 residents.

In her State of the Commonwealth address, Gov. Maura Healey in January announced plans to ban medical debt from being reported to credit agencies.

About 13.5 percent of residents reported paying family medical debt in the past year, even with the majority having insurance coverage, according to a 2025 survey from the Center for Health Information and Analysis.

Tests, surgical procedurals, chronic condition care, dental and emergency care were the most common services that led to debt, CHIA said. About 53 percent of people with debt had to cut back on savings or take money out of savings, 41 percent were contacted by a collection agency, and 36 percent had to borrow money or pay with credit cards.