Mercer Family Cares Initiative relieves millions of dollars in medical debt

MACON, Ga. (AP/WMGT) — A new initiative at the Mercer University School of Medicine conceived by a retired federal judge is helping poor people in rural Georgia pay their medical debts.

A news release from the university says the Mercer Family Cares Initiative, funded by three families with ties to the school, is retiring more than $4.3 million in medical debt for nearly 3,000 people who live in 33 Georgia counties.

The idea came from retired U.S. District Judge William Duffey, who served in the northern district of Georgia and was previously a partner at King & Spalding law firm in Atlanta, after he noticed inflated prices for items on his own medical bills. He saw that his insurance company would price medication over $500 that would normally cost $40 over the counter, plus higher itemized charges for medical procedures.

Duffey had this to say:

“…it is seldom a choice to incur medical debt. When you’re sick, have an accident or suffer from disease, you have to get care. So, it’s an involuntary imposition of a debt on someone.”

Duffey came together with RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization focused on the use of donations to buy medical debt in large amounts and relieve that debt with no tax consequences to recipients. He also teamed up with several other Mercer alums and their families to take on this challenge. Together, they formed the Mercer Family Cares Initiative, and plan to help relieve even more medical debt in the future.