By Karen Garcia
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES 鈥� Did you get a letter in the mail from the County of Los Angeles with the word 鈥淯ndue鈥� in bold blue? It鈥檚 not a scam. It鈥檚 a notification that your medical debt was cleared by the county.
More than 134,000 L.A. County residents began getting notices in the mail Monday as part of the first wave of medical bill forgiveness made possible by the county鈥檚 Medical Debt Relief Program. The first round of notices is expected to relieve more than $183 million in debt.
The program was launched, in partnership with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, in December with the mission of providing financial relief for eligible residents by purchasing and eliminating the debt. The funds for the program were made possible by an initial $5 million investment approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors with additional funds from L.A. Care Health Plan and the L.A. County Medical Assn.
The goal is to retire $500 million in medical debt for low-income residents, with plans to eliminate as much as $2 billion by seeking additional contributions from philanthropic partners, hospitals and health plans. That could mean the debt of millions of people would be wiped clean.
Through this program, the county provides the funding and Undue Medical Debt acquires qualifying debts in bulk for a fraction of their face value from provider partners such as hospitals and health systems along with collection agencies.
Far too many residents are 鈥渙ne medical bill away from fiscal catastrophe,鈥� said Holly Mitchell , Los Angeles County鈥檚 2nd District supervisor.
鈥淚n 2023 alone, Los Angeles County residents held over $2.9 billion in medical debt,鈥� Mitchell said.
found that 1 in 9 adults in the county are impacted by medical debt, and 鈥渕any are low-income families who even with a lifetime of work may never escape it,鈥� said Janice Hahn , the county鈥檚 4th District supervisor.
Adults with medical debt burdens are two to three times more likely to be food insecure, delay or forgo necessary medical care or prescriptions and experience housing instability than those without this burden, according to the . Furthermore, the data say, about half of adults facing medical debt took on credit card debt to pay their medical bills.
鈥淭his kind of debt often gets bundled and sold to debt collectors pennies on the dollar who go mercilessly after the families and aggressively for the payment,鈥� Hahn said.
The relief program comes with no strings attached, so you don鈥檛 have to pay taxes on it. That鈥檚 because the medical debt relief is a gift from a 鈥渄etached鈥� third party 鈥� Undue Medical Debt鈥攁s an act of generosity and does not count as income to the debtor, said Courtney Werpy Story , vice president of government initiatives for the nonprofit.
Undue Medical Debt will not file a Form 1099-C with the IRS , she said.
The 鈥淯ndue鈥� notification in the mail will list how much debt was forgiven and where the debt was owed, such as the hospital, clinic or collector that was trying to collect from you.
Since notices began hitting residences Monday, keep your eye out for the letters over the next few weeks.
Who is eligible for medical debt relief?
Eligibility for the program is determined by income, family size and whether the healthcare provider that is owed the money has chosen to participate in the program.
To qualify for the program you must:
- Be a resident of Los Angeles County .
- Earn less or equal to 400% of the or have a medical bill that is 5% or more your annual household income. For example, in 2025, the income for a family of four that is 400% of the federal poverty level is $128,000.
- Have eligible debt, which means you must have a bill from a hospital or clinic that is participating in the debt relief program, the bill is past due and you are not using a payment plan for the bill.
Do I need to apply?
No. If you and your bill qualify for the program, Undue Medical Debt will pay off your debt and you will be notified through the mail.
Your bill qualifies for the program if the debt is held by hospitals, clinics or collectors that are participating in the program. The initial participating hospitals are Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital and Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital . County supervisors are calling on other debt holders to participate.
Relief cannot be requested.
Did you lose your letter?
If you received a letter from the county鈥檚 Undue Medical Debt program, get in touch with the program .
I need help with my medical debt but I didn鈥檛 get a letter in the mail?
If you need help with medical bills, visit the county鈥檚 list of resources for support. Potential resources include applying for free or discounted hospital services, legal advice and consumer counseling.
Beware of scammers
This program is not a scam: If the county has relieved your medical debt, you鈥檒l be notified by a letter in the mail from Los Angeles County and Undue Medical Debt. The envelope will have a county seal on it.
Keep the letter as part of your records that the medical debt has been forgiven.
Beware of alleged debt relief scammers who contact you via text, phone call or email. And don鈥檛 fall for callers asking you to provide information or payment in exchange for medical debt relief.
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