A $100 gift can now clear $30,000 for Florida families, making a dent in Florida’s medical debt burden — one of the highest in the nation
Queens, NY – May 13, 2026 – Today, national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt announced that the organization is erasing over $725 million in medical debt for more than 623,000 residents of Florida at a time when families need it most. The affordability of healthcare is a top concern for Americans, even above the economy. And Gallup finds that fear of medical debt is a top personal finance concern, just under being able to retire.
Approximately 1 in 12 people have medical debt in Florida, which ranks second in the nation for the number of residents with medical debt. Nationwide, medical debt impacts 100 million people in the United States, totaling over $220 billion, according to KFF. Per Gallup, 30 million U.S. families borrowed an estimated $74 billion to pay for medical bills in 2024 alone.
Recipients of previous rounds of debt relief in Florida shared the impact this relief had:
“You’re sick and you’re not well. And you’re trying to do this journey and it gets so exhausting […] in a way that you can’t really express and so I leave [my debt relief] letter right on my desk because it’s, you know, those little things that will carry with me to remind me — you know I’m tired — but […] it just reminds me to keep going.” — Jennifer Bakowski, Margate, Florida | Chronic cancer survivor | $2,578.94 erased
“You have that guilt of not being able to pay, and it wasn’t that I didn’t want to pay. I didn’t have it. It was either not eat, not buy gas, or pay your hospital bill. So once y’all paid that bill, it was a total relief. And not only my financial worries, but the guilt of owing somebody that you wanted to pay, you wanted, they deserved to be paid.” — Renee Rose, Palatka, Florida | 40+ year career as dental assistant, lives with asthma | $3,933.36 erased
“I have had 7 major surgeries between 2015 and last year. I have to pay my own medical insurance which is so expensive every month. […] I can’t seem to catch up. I pay the deductible but there is always more that isn’t covered. […] I was so shocked when I received this letter from Undue Medical Dept [that] took care of one of my outstanding bills. It’s one of the smaller ones but oh my god what a relief it is knowing one has been taken care of.” — Bill Waxman, Orlando, Florida | Retired restaurant manager | $7,157.52 erased
“[Debt relief] changed my outlook on a lot of things. [There are] are possibilities and ways out of situations that you previously would have thought, well, this is just how it’s going to be forever, you know, they’ll just keep recycling this or selling it to another person to keep it on my report forever.” — Scott Whitman, Boca Raton, Florida | Relied on the ER to navigate epilepsy when uninsured; debt relief helped repair his credit score by 20 points | More than $10,000 erased
The medical debt crisis is only getting worse, with healthcare costs rising and insurance gaps widening — in Florida, the uninsured rate is the sixth highest in the nation. That’s why Undue is launching a spring fundraising campaign, with every donation supporting medical debt relief in Florida triple-matched for the month of May.
“The scale of medical debt in Florida is staggering — and it’s impacting the lives of Florida families every day,” shared Undue Medical Debt President and CEO, Allison Sesso. “This spring appeal, with donations tripled for Florida, is a chance for people to join us and make an enormous difference for their neighbors. One dollar donated becomes $300 of medical debt erased — and we want to reach as many Floridians as possible.”
Undue Medical Debt uses an innovative model to address this crisis, leveraging donated dollars to eliminate medical debt entirely. By working directly with hospitals, health systems and the secondary debt market (like collection agencies) to acquire medical debt in bulk, Undue is able to turn one donated dollar into $100 of medical debt relieved on average. To learn more, watch this video explainer of the model.
Throughout May, that impact triples for Florida, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous family foundation. A $100 gift, which usually abolishes $10,000 in debt, now equals $300 and can clear an incredible $30,000 for families in these priority zones. Donate at: UndueMedicalDebt.org/campaign/eliminate-medical-debt-for-florida-families/
Debt relief is source-based and cannot be requested. A mix of donors, including individuals and grass roots organizations, provided the unrestricted funding for this debt relief. The sources of debt are a mix of hospital/health system, physicians’ groups and collection agencies (the secondary market). Once acquired, the debt is simply erased out of the blue via an envelope in the mail.
To qualify, Floridians must either have an annual income at or below 400% of the federal poverty level (around $100,000 a year for a family of three) or medical debt that exceeds 5% of their annual income.
Qualifying Florida residents will receive a letter with Undue Medical Debt’s logo on the envelope. The letter will indicate which debts have been erased. FAQ here: UndueMedicalDebt.org/faq
Top 10 Counties Receiving Debt Relief
| COUNTIES | MEDICAL DEBT RELIEVED | NUMBER OF PEOPLE IMPACTED |
| Broward County | Over $90.2 million | Nearly 61,000 |
| Polk County | Nearly $61.6 million | Over 48,300 |
| Hillsborough County | Nearly $60.9 million | Nearly 53,700 |
| Volusia County | Nearly $34.5 million | Over 35,100 |
| Miami-Dade County | Nearly $32.9 million | Nearly 17,200 |
| Pasco County | Nearly $31.1 million | Nearly 23,800 |
| Pinellas County | Nearly $30 million | Over 25,500 |
| Lake County | Over $27.9 million | Nearly 29,000 |
| Osceola County | Over $26.6 million | Nearly 29,900 |
| Seminole County | Over $26.4 million | Nearly 28,400 |