The City of Cleveland announced Thursday that it has cleared medical debt for more than 161,000 residents.
American Rescue Plan Act funds were used for the payoff, totaling more than $165 million.
The average amount paid off per person was just over $1,000, according to Councilmember Charles Slife. He added that there were two cases of debt that exceeded $200,000.
The 161,481 beneficiaries account for about 40% of the city's population, said Councilmember Kris Harsh.
"A lot of times people see us invest in things, in roads and buildings, in institutions and other things," said Council President Blaine Griffin. "But this was an opportunity to directly invest in people."
The city paid $2 million to Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit, which then bought the debt at a discounted rate and paid it off. Griffin said $1 million of allocated funds for the initiative remains unspent and will be used "to support and strengthen Cleveland's residents."
Courtney Story, a representative from Undue Medical Debt, called medical debt a uniquely American problem.
"Medical debt forces people to delay care. It can impact credit, and it weighs heaviest on communities already facing inequity," Story said.
Though more than 90% of people in the United States have some form of health coverage, U.S. residents owe at least $220 billion in medical debt, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. Approximately 14 million people owe more than $1,000 and about 3 million people owe more than $10,000.
About 810,000, or 9.1% of adults in Ohio, reported having medical debt from 2019 and 2021, which was higher than the national average of 8.6%, according to KFF.
