Michele Grim, a TFT Union Member, Leads Effort to Help Eliminate Medical Debt
In 2019, Toledo Federation of Teachers member and Ohio AFL-CIO Path to Power candidate Michele Grim won her Toledo City Council race and quickly proved the importance of electing union members to every level of government.
Michele quickly got to work on Council to help working families by leading the effort to use American Rescue Plan money to eliminate medical debt to those making under 400% of poverty level or if it's larger than 5% of a person's income. That means a family of four making around $100,000 a year can still qualify.
Toledo City Council and Lucas County Commissioners have each passed $800,000, for a total of $1.6 million, to eliminate between $190 and $240 million of medical debt by partnering with RIP Medical Debt. The exact amount depends on which hospitals participate, the age of the debt, and at what rate they can negotiate. They’re able to purchase medical debt from hospital systems and other health care groups, and sometimes the secondary market, for pennies on the dollar. Then they just cancel that debt, and people will get a letter in the mail that says their debt has been canceled.
Since then, Michele has been elected to the Ohio House of Representatives and is receiving national attention for her efforts to use the Rescue Plan money as it was intended, to help working people. Last week, Michele was interviewed by Teen Vogue about her work where she said:
"I think the important thing to remember is that medical debt can happen to everybody, it’s nobody’s fault, and it’s a uniquely American problem. Medical debt is the number one reason for bankruptcies in the United States. It affects everyone, and I think everybody knows someone who has had medical debt at some point in their lives or does currently."