Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says more than one-point-one billion dollars in medical debt has now been wiped out through the state’s Medical Debt Relief Program.
The governor’s office says more than 500-thousand Illinois residents in every county have had their medical debt forgiven.
On average, each person received more than 12-hundred dollars in relief, with one individual seeing more than 300-thousand dollars in medical debt erased.
The program is run by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Officials say eligible residents do not need to apply. Relief is automatic for Illinoisans with household incomes at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or for those whose medical debt equals five percent or more of their annual income.
