Blacksburg nonprofit helps abolish $51 million in medical debt in Southwest Virginia

A Blacksburg-based nonprofit has eliminated more than $51 million of medical debt for 35,007 residents in Southwest Virginia, according to a press release.

The Secular Society, a nonprofit founded in 2013, focuses on addressing community needs across the Southwest region. Since 2020, it has partnered with Undue Medical Debt, a New York-based nonprofit organization that buys medical debt.

[Disclosure: The Secular Society’s three-year challenge grant was instrumental in the creation of Cardinal News. It has no influence on our news coverage or decisions and is not a current donor. See our policy.]

Undue Medical Debt uses donations to purchase large bundles of medical debt for pennies on the dollar. According to the organization, every $1 donated can erase $100 of medical debt. 

Once debt is abolished, collection attempts will stop and credit scores are restored, said Rachel Helton, a spokesperson for The Secular Society. 

“Folks in this region are hesitant to incur a bill they can’t afford. There is stigma related to outstanding balances,” she said. 

Once the medical debt is abolished, there are opportunities for recipients to buy other necessities such as food or pay for transportation, Helton added. 

From 2020 to 2024, The Secular Society contributed $633,493 to debt relief efforts in Southwest Virginia. The latest tranche marks the largest single round of relief since the organization launched its campaign in 2020. The nonprofit did not provide a figure for how much was donated to Undue Medical Debt in this latest round of relief.

Hospitals are some of the largest debt collectors in state courts, according to a recent report from Stanford and George Washington universities. From 2010 to 2024, hospitals and other medical providers in Virginia brought 1.15 million court actions and over 400,000 garnishment actions to collect $1.4 billion from patients. This represents 27.1% of all debt collection suits in the state’s District courts, according to the report. 

About 14 million people in the U.S. owe over $1,000 in medical debt, and about $3 million people carry medical debt that exceeds $10,000, according to a 2024 report by KFF, a nonprofit research organization focused on health policy and journalism. 

Undue Medical Debt works to identify people who are least likely to be able to pay their bills. Once the organization clears a debt, it notifies recipients by mail that their balance has been eliminated, with no strings attached. It does not release the names of the hospitals it partners with.

Eligible recipients include families earning less than four times the federal poverty level or those whose medical debt exceeds 5% of their income. Uninsured and underinsured individuals also qualify.