More than $17 million in medical debt erased in Fort Smith metro

First Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith raised more than $63,500 in a partnership with Boston-based Undue Medical Debt to erase around $17 million in medical debt for more than 11,000 people in the Fort Smith metro, according to the church.

People in the area did not have to apply or go through a process to have medical debt partially or completely erased. Qualifying residents in Crawford and Sebastian counties have a household income at or below 400% of the federal poverty level, or have medical debt that is 5% or more of their household income, noted the press release.

The federal poverty level in 2025 for one person is $15,650, meaning medical debt could be fully or partially cleared for a person with an annual income of $62,600.

“Our mission has always been inspired by the work and words of Jesus Christ who called us to ‘forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,’” said First Presbyterian Rev. Tasha Blackburn. “In this specific case, that means helping the people in the ‘in-between’ – those who are trying their best, but then get hit with a bill they couldn’t control.”

Those having medical debt fully or partially cleared will be notified in mid-February by mail from Undue Medical Debt, according to the First Presbyterian press release.

“Usually when someone says the check is in the mail it means you shouldn’t trust it,” Blackburn said. “In this case, it’s true.”

According to Undue Medical Debt, more than 100 million Americans face substantial medical debt, and combined owe at least $220 billion in past-due medical expenses.

The nonprofit, founded in 2014 by former debt collection executives, “leverages donations to buy large, bundled medical debts at steep discounts, providing immediate relief to financially vulnerable families.” The organization says it is able to use $1 to erase about $100 in medical debt, and has cleared more than $24.5 billion in medical debt for 15.21 million people in the U.S.

“We’re changing the way people think about medical debt by sharing stories that reveal it is a failure of policies and systems, not people,” noted a statement from Undue Medical Debt.

The nonprofit said it works with more than 300 healthcare providers nationwide in the process, with one benefit for the providers being it helps them earn some revenue on “dormant debt” without having to use third-party collection agencies.

Undue Medical Debt recently worked with the North Carolina government to erase medical debt for about 2.5 million residents in the state. In that deal, all 99 hospitals in the state agreed to stop collecting certain debts dating back to 2014.

In December, the nonprofit worked with the office of Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to clear more than $18 million in medical debt for more than 18,000 state residents.