Imagine being saddled with medical debt, caused by an illness or accident you or a family member had no control over, and out of the realm of your own means to repay. Every aspect of your financial life is affected by the debt and the ruination of your credit. Now imagine getting a letter in the mail, out of the blue, letting you know your medical debt has been paid in full.
This gift recently became a reality for just over 4,500 people in 19 counties throughout the Texas Hill Country. It started with a few caring individuals in Mason who wanted to find a way to help, and the many generous donors who stepped up when they did.
A Mason businessman began talking with a few friends about how they could help local folks with medical bills, beyond the small fundraisers often held in town. The group began researching what could be done and came across a non-profit organization called Undue Medical Debt (UMD). UMD is a charity that uses donations to buy large bundles of medical debt that they then relieve, with no tax consequences to donors or recipients. After hospitals and medical groups have tried to collect on unpaid medical bills for a period of time (typically 12-18 months), they offer this debt for sale to debt collectors for pennies on the dollar. UMD purchases this debt directly from the hospitals, medical groups, or debt collectors, pays for it with donations, and forgives the debt.
In May, the Mason group contacted UMD and asked about starting a campaign to pay for the existing medical debt in Mason County. When they learned that Mason did not meet the $1 million minimum amount of debt for a campaign, they asked about adding the debt from the surrounding counties.
UMD came back after finding $3.4 million in medical debt available for purchase in Mason and the surrounding six counties: Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, McCulloch and San Saba. The cost to purchase this debt would be $14,000. The group decided to dive in, and “The Skye’s the Limit” campaign was born in late July. The deadline to raise the funds was Nov. 16.
A website with a link to the “The Skye’s the Limit” campaign with UMD was put up and volunteers mobilized, creating a brochure, and going to churches, civic groups, the local newspapers, emphasizing that this was “a local effort, to meet a local need.”
And the donations started rolling in.
Though most of the funds came from individual donors, “The Skye’s the Limit” campaign also received help and donations from various companies and organizations. Create Healthy, a Hill Country philanthropy supporting a wide range of nonprofit organizations working to improve health and wellness, is among the donors. In addition, Grace Episcopal church Llano, St Barnabas Episcopal and Bethany Lutheran churches both of Fredericksburg, Hilda United Methodist Hilda, First United Methodist Mason, and Hill Country Telecommunications made notable contributions. Many more donors chose to remain anonymous. By Oct. 20 less than three months since it’s inception, “The Skye’s the Limit” campaign met its goal of raising 14,000.00.
The group debated: should they celebrate their success and close the campaign, or keep the website open for donations until the Nov. 16 deadline? They chose to leave the website open, announcing that the initial goal had been met, with any additional donations going towards the medical debt in other nearby counties.
On Nov. 16, the website closed as planned, and the campaign ended. Just over $20,000 had been raised, which allowed the group to buy and eliminate available medical debt in twelve more counties: Menard, Sutton, Bandera, Blanco, Kendall, Brown, Coleman, Concho, Mills, Real, Runnels, and Schleicher. In all, “The Skye’s the Limit” campaign was able to buy and eliminate $5.5 million worth of medical debt for over 4,500 residents, in 19 Hill Country counties. This was many more counties, many more people, and much more medical debt eliminated, than was originally envisioned. All due to the generosity of those that live in the Hill Country.
Since the entire process is anonymous, the campaign organizers are not given the names of the recipients, nor do they have any input on who receives the help. Likewise, the recipients of the help are not given information on their benefactors - only the wonderful news that their debt is paid and their credit wiped clean of the debt.
The organizers of the campaign would like to thank St Martin's Episcopal Church in Mason for sponsoring the campaign as well as the Episcopal Churches in the Northern Convocation, with the support of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas.
More importantly, “The Skye’s the Limit” organizers wish to convey their deep gratitude to all the donors that made such a difference in so many lives in our communities.
“The generosity of the people living in the Hill Country is simply overwhelming,” a spokesman said.
