Mercer initiative aims to retire medical debt for the poor

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

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

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 did some research and found that the system is needlessly confusing and fraught with undue and unreasonable expenses, particularly for those who are least able to pay.

“I’ve always wondered how people navigate the system, especially those who didn’t have the patience, time or resources,” Duffey said in the news release.

Mercer's medical school works on issues related to access to medical care in rural Georgia, and Duffey reached out to two friends who had graduated from Mercer Law, one a current university trustee and one a former trustee, to see about helping to resolve medical debt for people living in poverty.

While he believes in personal financial responsibility, Duffey said it's rarely someone's choice to rack up medical debt.

“When you’re sick, have an accident or suffer from disease, you have to get care,” he said. "So, it’s an involuntary imposition of a debt on someone. That debt imposes a particularly harsh barrier for the poor.”

Through his research, he found RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization that uses donations to buy up medical debt at discounted rates to relieve that debt...