Lucas County has now taken the lead in a city-county collaboration to use American Recovery Plan Act funds to buy and discharge uncollectable debt.
Under the the city-county-community partnership announced Tuesday — if Toledo City Council holds up its end — Toledo would become the national blueprint for effective response to the massive medical-debt problem that afflicts 4 out of 10 Americans.
The county commissioners wisely stepped up with $800,000 in support of the program, which releases Toledo City Council to get more for its citizens while doing less, and freeing some of Toledo’s ARPA funds for other needs.
Toledo council member Michele Grim intends to cut her proposed city allocation from $1.4 million to $800,000. That means a joint city-county commitment of $1.6 million will be enough to discharge between $190 million and $240 million dollars of medical debt in our community.
That’s thousands of families in Toledo and Lucas County relieved of a credit blemish that was brought on by medical necessity, not by out-of-control consumer buying, that will enable them to take better care of themselves and their families.
Ms. Grim’s ordinance to spend money from the coronavirus windfall with the nationally respected nonprofit RIP Medical Debt has been inexplicably stalled.
That organization has discharged more than $7 billion in uncollectable but credit-crushing debt since 2014.
Toledo and Lucas County have the opportunity to be national leaders and become the first city-county combination to take this step.
The county’s involvement in the RIP Medical Debt partnership should relieve the concerns that some council members have raised of the usage of the city’s money to pay down the debt of people who reside outside the city limits.
The uncollected debt is not a significant asset to the hospitals, but it is a major liability to the people carrying the blotch on their credit.
Removing the debt is about restoring the credit-worthiness of more than 41,000 people and creating up to $240 million in new buying power within Lucas County.
Toledo City Council’s delay on a groundbreaking partnership with the innovative RIP Medical Debt and their lack of enthusiasm for such incredible impact from such a modest investment will turn into a process improvement thanks to the Lucas County Commissioners.
There is simply no reason to oppose an economic impact of more than 100 to 1 that improves the entire regional economy and the lives of thousands of individuals.
Lucas County will surely help Toledo City Council see the light.
First Published November 3, 2022, 4:00 a.m.
