Los Angeles Pays Off $183 Million in Medical Debt for Thousands of Residents

It’s the first round of aid under the county’s medical debt relief program approved last year.

A nurse works at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2021. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Los Angeles County has paid off $183 million in medical debt for more than 134,000 residents under a relief program approved last year.

Residents whose medical debts were erased with no strings attached began receiving county-sealed notices in the mail on May 19, informing them of the amount paid by the county and the recipient.

“If you get a letter in the mail from LA County and Undue Medical Debt this week—open it. We’ve eliminated medical debt for more than 134,000 residents, no strings attached,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a May 15 statement. “This is real relief, and it’s hitting mailboxes soon.”

It’s the first round of aid under the county’s Medical Debt Relief Program, which launched in partnership with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt in December 2024. The Board of Supervisors initially approved $5 million to fund the program.

The program eliminates qualifying debt for eligible residents by purchasing it in bulk for a fraction of its face value from providers and collection agencies. County officials say the goal is to wipe $500 million in debt clean for low-income residents and up to $2 billion with funding from philanthropy and providers.

Eligible residents include those who earn less than or equal to 400 percent of the poverty level, or those whose medical bill is 5 percent or more of their household’s annual income.

A family with a household income of $150,000, for example, will qualify if it has a medical bill that’s $7,500 or more.

The debt must also be eligible, meaning the bill must be from a participating provider or collector. So far, participating hospitals include Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital and Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital.

Debt relief cannot be requested. Los Angeles residents who meet the eligibility requirements will automatically be enrolled and have their debts canceled.

Enclosed in the county-sealed letter labeled “Undue Medical Debt” are resources and information on how to avoid medical debt in the future.

“Medical debt continues to be a significant burden for too many LA County residents, with the total debt estimated at over $2.9 billion in 2023 in LA County—a staggering amount that has not decreased despite gains in insurance coverage,” Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a statement.

In 2023, one in nine Los Angeles residents had medical debt, according to a report by Los Angeles County. Among those, 45 percent couldn’t afford “basic necessities,” 72 percent said they went without needed medical care, and approximately half took on credit card debt to pay for medical bills.

City News Service contributed to this report.