-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
A network of area churches this summer banded together to take on the debt collection system that profits “on the backs of poor people”; to help restore bad credit marred by medical debt; and to inspire joy, said the organizers, the Rev. Otis Moss III and the Rev. Traci Blackmon. As a result, Moss said they’ve wiped out more than $5.3 million in medical debt, and they soon plan to send letters to nearly 6,000 Cook County residents with a no-strings-attached message: “May you have a beautiful, wonderful holiday. Your debt has been forgiven. Enjoy Thanksgiving.”
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Most medical debt is usually the smallest most insignificant debt to pay. It’s a $30 co-pay here, a $7 lab fee there, and maybe a few hundred dollar ER bill. The really large bills you hear about, well, those people often end up getting covered through medicaid. There’s the occasional cancer treatment that costs more from the out of network hospital or the out-of-network balance billing and those are unfortunate, but a lot of medical bills people feel they should have to pay or just disregard them entirely. it’s really pretty shocking how few people actually pay their medical co[pays.… Read more »