A group of community organizations is paying off more than $35 million in medical debt for 23,896 Arkansans in all 75 counties.

It’s also making recommendations to prevent medical debt from accumulating in the first place.

The debt was purchased on the secondary market in bundled portfolios at a steep discount for $225,000. RIP Medical Debt coordinated the payment. Funding came from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation; Arkansas Community Foundation; Jackson, Miss.-based HOPE, a community development financial institution; and other donors.

The average eliminated medical debt was about $1,500 per individual or family. The beneficiaries were anonymous and couldn’t be chosen. They will receive a letter from RIP notifying them of their debt freedom.

The plan was unveiled Thursday during a virtual news conference hosted by Arkansas Asset Funders Network, a regional network of grantmakers; Arkansas Community Institute, a group that helps lower-income individuals build assets; and Hope Policy Institute, HOPE’s policy and advocacy arm. The event was titled, “We’re Still Hurting! From the ER to the Courtroom.”

The effort is meant to reduce medical and court costs on so-called “ALICE” individuals: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed individuals, along with people of color.

Read more of this story on the Talk Business and Politics website.