Shivnani started a campaign through nonprofit organization RIP Medical Debt, with the goal of raising $5,000, which would help erase $500,000 of medical debt in Collin and Dallas counties. Of the 20 most populous counties in the United States, only Tarrant County has more medical debt than Dallas County, according to a report from KFF Health News.
More information on RIP Medical Debt and Shivnani’s campaign can be found online.
What inspired you to start raising money to help alleviate medical debt?
Towards the end of last year, I had a wrist fracture, and as a result of that, we had to go to the [emergency room]. Thankfully, it was a minor injury, and my family was able to cover it, but seeing that bill alone opened my eyes to how extreme medical debt can be, even for minor injuries, let alone, like, major injuries or diseases that need to be treated.
How did you get involved with RIP Medical Debt?
From that experience and also knowing that Texas, specifically Dallas County and Collin County, are some of the areas most plagued with medical debt across the entire nation, I was looking for something locally to make an impact. I stumbled upon the RIP Medical Debt website. ... From there, I was fortunate enough to figure out about this student group for RIP Medical Debt, which is actually a group of students across the nation all with the same goal in mind of erasing medical debt. It also has a ton of professors who've been through this themselves with 10-20 years of experience in fundraising. So those resources, along with my passion for trying to solve the issue, is [what] got me to where I am now.
How does RIP Medical Debt work?
RIP Medical Debt essentially mimics a for-profit debt buyer—so they're going to be the ones collecting the debt, and they buy it by using fundraising dollars. They purchase the medical debt in large bundles, so they’re essentially able to buy off $100 of medical debt for a single dollar, which magnifies what they're doing.
Who benefits most?
People who are earning 400% of the poverty line, or below that amount, are people who are able to then qualify for RIP Medical Debt. It’s also people who have 5% or more of their income as medical debt, so it's proportional. If someone has something like cancer and their medical debt is exceptionally high, that allows them also to qualify for the debt relief program.
What are the best ways to help?
Any help is good help. Even if people are able to donate, like, $1 to any campaign, that could erase $100 of medical debt for someone who is unable to keep up with their medical bills. The other way of solving it is even just spreading awareness through social media or in local communities.
Do you have plans to do more work in this realm in the future?
We've almost already hit that goal to raise $5,000 to erase $500,000 of medical debt, so after this campaign I am planning on trying to work with other people to start larger campaigns.
