AKRON, Ohio — Akron City Council has committed $500,000 to relieve some of the burden of medical debt for Akron residents. The council approved an ordinance Monday that allocates money from what Akron would distribute from the American Rescue Plan Act to spend on “reduction programs aimed at eliminating crippling medical debt.”
According to the city, 13.2% of Summit County residents had medical bills referred to debt collection in 2022.
In the same year, 38% of Americans said they delayed medical care because of the cost, up from 2021 when the percentage of Americans delaying care was 26%, the city said.
During Monday’s budget and finance committee meeting, Ward 1 Councilwoman Nancy Holland, who sponsored the legislation with At-large Councilman Jeff Fusco and Council President Margo Sommerville, called the measure “a labor of love.”
“Sometimes a good thing just kind of carries itself,” she said.
Holland pointed to the work of several NEOMED students who have donated their time and conducted research to help the city find the best way forward.
“They are championing the crazy idea that access to health care, and that the ability to get the care we need and to do so without losing everything, this crazy idea that this is a human right, and one worth fighting for,” she said.
The initiative is a commitment, Sommerville said, and “a real opportunity to impact and change people’s lives.”
The city plans to work with a medical debt relief company with expertise, of which there are many, Fusco said. He referenced RIP Medical Debt, a national nonprofit that buys medical debt in bulk and at a discount, enabling it to relieve $10,000 in medical debt for every $100 it receives, the organization said.
In newly released research conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago with funding from the Wall Street Journal, 41% of Americans polled said health care and prescription costs represent a major concern in their household’s financial situation.
At-large Councilwoman Linda Omobien and Ward 4 Councilman Russel Neal Jr. questioned the allocation of funds.
Omobien said she wants to know where the money came from in the budget, as the city needs to do a better job of investing in housing improvements for seniors.
Neal called it a “good cause” but objected to earlier references to “finding” the money to fund the medical debt relief initiative and said he wants the city to allocate money to reduce gun violence.
“I got a problem with finding stuff,” he said. “We’ve got to stop finding stuff, and really go about budgeting and allocating.”
Ward 9 Councilman Mike Freeman thanked everyone involved in the debt relief program.
“I know you guys worked to, semantics, find the money, rearrange, whatever, but we’re thankful for this,” he said. “A thousand thumbs up.”
