Our convening on April 8 on Beacon Hill brought together leaders to address medical debt, from root causes to policy pathways.

At the convening, Allison Sesso, President and CEO of Undue Medical Debt, announced that Undue recently made its single largest debt abolishment in MA! Thanks to funds from the Foundation, Undue is relieving $30 million in medical debts, impacting an estimated 17,000 residents in Eastern Massachusetts.

In addition to Allison’s remarks, we also heard from:

• Lauren Peters, Executive Director of the Center for Health Information and Analysis, who shared data showing the impact of medical debt on Massachusetts residents;

• Jason Reis, Medical Debt Advocate at Health Law Advocates, who described causes of medical debt that are showing up in his work with consumers;

• Edily Vasquez, Financial Coach with The Neighborhood Developers, who talked about how medical debt impacts the individuals she is working with;

• Chi Chi Wu, Senior Attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, who shared what Massachusetts can and should do to protect its residents from medical debt;

• Ashley Blackburn, Senior Director, Policy & Government Relations, Health Care for All, who moderated a lively discussion that brought to life the challenges and opportunities for addressing medical debt in Massachusetts; and

• Amy Rosenthal, Executive Director, Health Care for All, who underscored how medical debt is a health equity issue and the opportunity to work together toward solutions.

We appreciate everyone who joined us! Learn more about our work below.

Event photography: EmVision Productions