TOLEDO, Ohio — Michael Burton lives with a terminal form of cancer. He says he pays more than $3,500 a month out of pocket for one of his prescriptions. When he heard about the city of Toledo's medical debt proposal, he thought about his own bills.
"I've got somebody paying for that right now, but that's going to run out," Burton said. "So if [the city] is going to pay medical bills, I've got some medical bills to give them."
Others, like Ronnie Taylor, say they don't owe anything right now but have in the past, and this relief would help communities that greatly need it.
"A lot of people don't even go to the hospital because they had debt," Taylor said. "It's bad. A lot of people died because of that in the past."
The proposal originally would've helped about 25,000 qualifying Toledoans. But, County Commissioner Pete Gerken said the ordinance should help even more people throughout the entire county.
"Why should we let this be decided by a boundary of a street, or a road, or a stoplight?" Gerken asked. "The whole county can use it. There's medical debt in Sylvania Township, Berkey, Jerusalem, as well as the city of Toledo. It's kind of a symptom of an illness of our medical system. Medical debt can get everybody."
But, the proposal has been stalled in city council for over a month and has been held back at meetings three times. At-large Council member Michele Grim, the bill's main sponsor, is hoping the ordinance can be approved as soon as possible.
"I'm determined to get something done, and I think we're getting closer," she said. I think it's time for the majority of council to come together and move this forward."
Grim said she anticipates a vote on Nov. 9, the next time council meets as a whole. If approved, the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt would begin working with county hospitals to buy up debt.
The organization buys debt at a lower rate and pays it all off. Toledo and Lucas County would use money from the American Rescue Plan Act to fund the program. County residents wouldn't have to apply. Instead, they would receive a letter in the mail alerting them that the debt has been forgiven.
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