Many in Miami-Dade are finding their medical debt paid off. And, no, it’s not a scam

Over 125,000 people in Miami-Dade County have received letters stating that some, or all, of their medical debt was paid off.

No, it’s not a scam.

Billionaires and Miami Beach residents Daniel and Jane Och are footing the tab — roughly $264 million — for 125,611 residents in Miami-Dade who have outstanding medical bills.

The donation, made through the couple’s Jane and Daniel Och Family Foundation, is being dispersed by RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit that was started by two former debt collectors, Craig Antico and Jerry Ashton, to buy delinquent hospital bills in bulk at a discounted rate and pay them off. So far, RIP has paid off $9 billion of debt for more than 6 million families in the country since its founding in 2014, said Allison Sesso, RIP’s president and CEO.

Nearly 1 in 10 adults — or roughly 23 million people — owe medical debt in the country, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of government data last year. The Urban Institute in 2022 estimated that about 14% of people in Florida have medical debt in collections. In South Florida, that’s 9% in Miami-Dade, 14% in Broward, 15% in Monroe and 13% in Palm Beach counties.

“Jane and I are excited to partner with RIP Medical Debt to abolish the medical debt of thousands of Miami-Dade residents,” said Daniel Och in a statement. “Receiving quality medical care should not come at the expense of economic stability. We hope this gift will make a positive impact in our community.”

‘Somebody was on my side’

Jennifer Bakowski of Margate is one of the many who has benefited from the debt relief. The former human resource IT manager and marathon runner was 25 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed in 2008 with melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, in the tissue of her scalp and underwent surgery. Eleven years later, in 2019, she had a seizure at work and was taken to the hospital, where doctors learned that her cancer had spread to her brain, she said.

“Within hours of being released from the hospital, I had 28 stitches in my head, I had terminal cancer, and I was getting bills like crazy,” said Bakowski, 54. Her medical bills have tallied about $30,000 a year since 2019, as she has undergone additional tests and treatments, Bakowski said.

A few months ago, she received a letter from RIP Medical Debt: $2,600 — a portion of her medical debt — was paid off, courtesy of a gift from philanthropist Ryan Jumonville, who has paid off $100 million of medical debt for more than 84,000 people in Florida.

At first, Bakowski thought it was a scam. Then she Googled RIP.

“I finally felt like somebody was on my side ... it was a huge relief that somebody was doing something to help people like me,” said Bakowski, who is still trying to pay off the rest of her medical bills. The mom of two has the letter framed in her home’s craft studio to boost her spirit on difficult days.

“It just helps to know that there are people, not government, not anybody else, just people that are there, trying to make it better for people for no reason other than that they know that they can,” she said.

RIP doesn’t tell recipients who paid off their debt unless it’s part of a large gift such as the one by the Och’s foundation to help people in Miami-Dade County. The couple moved to Miami Beach from New York City in 2019 and are looking to give back and be part of the community, said Andy Katzman, executive director of the Jane and Daniel Och Family Foundation.

The Ochs support the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and sponsored the Miami Foundation’s Give Miami Day 2022, Katzman said. Daniel Och, who runs New York-based Willoughby Capital, is on the boards of Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Bass Museum of Art, both in Miami Beach.

How big is the medical debt in Florida, the U.S.?

In the U.S., there is at least $88 billion of outstanding medical bills in current collection, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal agency. Florida had about $8.2 million total medical debt, the second highest in the country, just behind Texas, which had about $14.6 million, according to the agency’s 2022 report, which reviewed medical debt collection on credit reports as of December 2020.

People can’t ask the nonprofit to help pay off their debts. RIP buys medical debt in bulk at a discounted rate. “Every dollar that’s given to us relieves $100 of medical debt,” said Sesso. “A $10 donation gets rid of $1,000 in medical debt, $100 donation gets rid of $10,000 in medical debt.”

RIP’s only criteria: A person’s income must be less than 4 times the federal poverty level or the debts are 5% or more of a person’s annual income, Sesso said.

“When people have medical debt, they avoid going to get the care that they need. So what we’ve experienced is that when people get their debt relieved, they’re much more open to going back to the doctor and getting the healthcare that they need and not trying home remedies,” Sesso said.

As for Bakowski, she’s trying to enjoy life with her family while juggling her cancer treatment. And while Bakowski can’t run anymore, she volunteers, like making birthday shirts for children in foster care.

The other day, she cooked meatballs using a recipe from her late grandmother-in-law.

“And my daughter said, ‘I’m so glad that you’re able to cook these and that I don’t have to learn how to do any of this until I’m ready to cook for my kids.’ And to hear those kinds of things is just — it’s hard to think of the future when you have terminal cancer. But, you know, you just gotta keep living and hoping for the best.”

She also has a message for those who get a letter from RIP Medical Debt:

“Take the gifts, treasure it, appreciate it, and pay it forward when you can.”

How to donate

Visit ripmedicaldebt.org to donate.