Better, a company that works with individuals to “get back the money their health insurance owes them,” has purchased and forgiven $1 million of medical debt for several hundred Californians.
A report promoting the act did not mention how much the company spent to acquire the $1 million of debt. Better is using RIP Medical Debt to help it purchase the portfolios and forgive the debts.
Better is seeking to ultimately purchase and forgive $16 million of unpaid medical debts, according to the company’s website.
Rachael Norman, the founder of Better, says that the size of the debts ranged from $0.25 all the way up to $124,000. Cases were chosen at random. The average amount of debt that was forgiven was $4,000, she said.
Norman said the company is taking a page from the playbook of John Oliver, the host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, which purchased and forgave $15 million of medical debts last year.