Hundreds of thousands of Californians are about to open their mail and find out a big chunk of their medical bills no longer exists, thanks to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and model Miranda Kerr.
The couple made an undisclosed multimillion-dollar donation to the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, helping erase $550 million in medical debt for more than 261,000 people across the state. The organization buys bundled hospital and collection accounts, then cancels qualifying balances. Residents are expected to start receiving letters in mid-July letting them know their debts have been wiped.
How the gift will be used
The Spiegel family fund’s donation allowed Undue to purchase large portfolios of charged-off and past-due medical accounts at a steep discount and eliminate them for qualifying households, as reported by Los Angeles Times. In a video conversation about the effort, Kerr said the couple wanted families focused on getting care, not dodging bills, adding that the scale of medical debt made this kind of intervention feel urgent.
How Undue stretches donations
Undue specializes in turning relatively modest donations into big numbers. The nonprofit says on its site that every $10 donated relieves an average of $1,000 in medical debt, thanks to the discounts available when purchasing debt portfolios in bulk.
The group targets relief to households at or below 400% of the federal poverty level, or to people whose medical bills exceed 5% of their annual income. Instead of requiring applications or paperwork marathons, Undue identifies qualifying accounts and notifies people directly by mail, according to Undue Medical Debt and Undue Medical Debt.
Where the relief landed
The Spiegel-Kerr gift was spread across multiple counties. San Diego County received about $99 million in relief for roughly 40,369 people, and Los Angeles County saw $26.7 million erased for approximately 17,466 residents, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In Los Angeles, that influx lands on top of an already aggressive local push. The county’s own pilot program has wiped out hundreds of millions in medical debt and mailed relief letters to residents, as reported by Over 134,000 Angelenos' debt.
Spiegel and Kerr are not new to high-profile debt relief. In 2022, they picked up the tab on student loans for Otis College of Art and Design’s graduating class, a surprise announced at commencement, according to CBS Los Angeles. Spiegel and other tech leaders have also backed wildfire and community relief efforts in Southern California in recent years.
Undue’s approach has been copied widely by governments and philanthropists across the country. Institutional profiles of the nonprofit note it has abolished more than $40 billion in medical debt nationwide, using the same strategy of buying up large pools of accounts at a fraction of their face value and retiring them outright.
For Californians wondering if they are part of this latest wave of relief, the advice is simple: keep an eye on the mailbox in mid-July. Eligible recipients will get official notices from Undue or their county government, and they will not need to apply or jump through any hoops for their balances to disappear.
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