medical Archives - Voluntaryism in Action

A single church in New Mexico voluntarily relieved the medical debt for families of the entire state and more. St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Santa Fe helped pay off over 1.3 million dollars of the medical debt left to over 780 different families, thus paying off what they claim to be the entire state of New Mexico’s available medical debt, reports the Episcopal News Service.

Not only were they able to raise enough through its members to help those in New Mexico they also paid off all available medical debt in multiple counties in Arizona as well. In total the church was able to relieve accessible medical debt for every family in New Mexico as well as the Apache, Gila, Graham, Mohave, and Navajo counties in Arizona.

St. Bede’s was able to do this through personal donations to the church and by partnering up with the non-profit RIP Medical Debt. RIP Medical Debt is focused on reaching out to families with medical debt and are severely below the established poverty line. They also seek out families dealing with insolvency. St. Bede’s partnership with the non-profit was a major factor in being able to make such a large and impactful act of voluntary charity.

RIP Medical Debt operates like collection agencies in that it will acquire the medical debt of people for pennies on the dollar. So while the church raised just over 15,000 dollars, that $15,000 was able to pay off over 1.3 million dollars of available debt thanks to the partnership with RIP Medical Debt. Each family whose debt was paid will receive a letter informing them that their debt is paid and part of the letter will be stating, “St. Bede’s Episcopal Church has paid off the medical debt you have been struggling with for the past number of years. No strings attached.”

Reverend Catherine Volland of St. Bede’s was quoted saying, “I don’t know if this parish has ever funded a program with such a great impact. We were able to do it because every week we set aside 10% of donations to the church for outreach. Prioritizing service to others is our gospel imperative.” Quite amazing what a single group can do for others when given the chance to do so.

Many claim that churches need to be taxed, but many of those critics fail to realize the harm it would cause to smaller churches who are voluntary funded by charitable donation. Churches who often do more in their community than the state ever could and do so without coercion. Who knows what would have eventually happened to these hundreds of families dealing with their medical debt if the church was taxed as many demand?

An anonymous recipient of this help replied to the unexpected and selfless act by saying, “I was having a hard time trying to figure out how I was going to pay all this amount of money and it’s not been easy finding a job especially when you have two kids and with this pandemic going on. It has really been a very hard year for me and for everyone. I would love to thank personally that special person that helped me with my account. I am so thankful and I just want to say God bless you always.”

St. Bede’s and RIP Medical Debt show what people are capable of doing for others of their own free will and free of government coercion. This story is a shining example of voluntaryism in action.

The government’s forced quarantines and work restrictions have had a terrible economic impact. To try to correct the problem they caused, politicians are starting their dollar-bill printing presses, creating money out of thin air like a magician—and like a magician, hoping that nobody will notice the trick.

That news is dominating headlines, so you almost certainly know about it. But what isn’t making as many headlines is the news that voluntary, private coronavirus relief is better than government action. What follows is just a small sample of what’s happening every day all over the world.

Government regulations prevent markets from meeting demand as they otherwise could, and that’s been seen in a shortage of medical supplies as the coronavirus spreads. Prudential Financial contributed towards fixing that shortage, donating 153,000 face masks and approximately 75,000 respirators to hospitals across New Jersey.

Generous people aren’t just thinking about the safety of healthcare workers, but also their basic needs—like coffee. Starbucks has said that through 3 May, all customers who are hospital staff will receive a tall brewed coffee at no charge. In addition, Starbucks is donating $500,000 to charities that support hospital workers.

But treating COVID patients takes more than caffeine—it takes calories. So Krispy Kreme has joined in as well, pledging to donate a dozen donuts to all healthcare workers every Monday. They’ll continue through National Nurses Week (May 6-12).

Hospital employees are working very hard to help people sick with COVID, but they are fortunate to still have jobs. The government’s restrictions shut down a lot of businesses, and put a lot of people out of work. Hardest hit are wage-earning employees. That’s why Kent Taylor, the CEO of Texas Roadhouse, has chosen to donate his year’s salary to help his front-line hourly workers.

Taylor is not the only one supporting employees affected by the government’s orders. Gene Lee, the CEO of Darden (the parent company of Olive Garden and LongHorn) is not taking his salary. Rather, he’s investing it and other company resources in an emergency pay program to cover hourly employees. They’re also adjusting their business model to meet the crisis. Lee explained that “what we’re focused on right now is ramping up and using our team members to be able to keep them on our payroll and develop our own delivery capabilities.”

And it’s not only employers who are helping with finances. Business are voluntarily helping their customers with financial difficulties. Some financial institutions, such as USAA, are choosing to waive fees, reimburse deductibles on coronavirus-related healthcare, and offer loans at reduced rates.

Utilities are choosing to help as well. In the frozen north, Alaska Waste has said that they “can accommodate payment arrangements; and will work with you individually to meet your needs.” They have also pledged to not stop garbage collection services for people who cannot pay during this crisis.

The outpouring of care from all over the world has been tremendous. We’ve covered additional voluntary relief efforts previously, but as the government-created crisis continues, people keep helping each other. Politicians will continue to bicker about how to distribute your own money back to you, as they hope you forget that it’s they who are driving the economy off a cliff. But everyone else, from huge corporations to private individuals, have stepped up to voluntarily help. Like in everything, private coronavirus relief is better than government efforts.

Voluntaryism in Action

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Tag Archives: medical

Medical Debt for New Mexico Voluntarily Paid By Church

Private Coronavirus Relief is Better than Government