Thanks for coming to my page! I’m really honored to be running the NYC 2026 marathon on behalf of Undue Medical Debt, a non-profit whose mission is to erase the burden of medical debt faced by millions across the US.

No one likes having to go to (and especially pay) the doctor. But medical debt is a uniquely American injustice that especially hurts communities of color and low income. This debt often comes from unexpected illnesses and accidents, and can be a few hundred dollars owed on a deductible, costs for essential meds, or what’s owed for a child’s ER visit. Yet if you’re unable to pay, indebtedness can quickly escalate into stress and anguish from collector harassment, wage garnishment and lawsuits, financial insecurity, and avoided medical care and poorer health.

What Undue does is buy bundled debt portfolios (lots of people’s unpaid medical bills) from hospitals, healthcare providers, and debt collection agencies. It buys the debt at a discount—typically paying about a penny for a $1 worth of debt! Undue focuses on the debt of those who earn less than 4x the federal poverty level (~$64k or $133k for a family of 4), and/or whose debt is 5% or more of their income.

The many problems of the US medical system—lack of universal coverage, overspending, private equity ownership, wasteful complexity, and bad incentives, among others—directly translate into poor outcomes and staggeringly high health care costs. But people and families shouldn’t have to bear the burden of these systemic failures.

I really like that Undue has designed an innovative, effective, and targeted approach that has already eliminated $40 billion in medical debt nationwide for 27 million people in just 12 years since Undue’s founding. They’re a well-established org doing good on both an individual and social equity basis. They also work on systemic change through advocacy, storytelling, and advancing transparency and cost containment proposals. 

Remember, your $1 donation can erase at least $100 in debt for someone today (–a two orders of magnitude impact!). How cool is that?!

Thanks so much for joining me! And, 加油 (jia you), y’all!