For more than 100,000 Washingtonians, medical debt weighs on household finances, decreases credit scores, leads to challenges with access to wellness care and results in health disparities that overwhelmingly affect Black D.C. residents.
When IdeaCrew got wind of the medical debt crisis, the local health care tech company used its charitable giving arm in March to pay $12 million in medical bills for 12,000 residents in need of support.
“The beauty is, it’s all done,” said IdeaCrew President Trevor Garner. “If you’re fortunate and got a letter, there’s nothing you need to do. It’s not a scam. You can check your credit report and you will see the debt is gone as we speak. We saw this as an injustice – when you’re trying to take a step forward, but anytime you need your credit report for a home or car, you have an anchor of debt there.”
IdeaCrew collaborated with Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization that buys medical debt and partners with donors who want to pay the debt of residents around the country. The nonprofit has relieved medical debt in all 50 states, including cities and counties in New York City; Pittsburgh; Lexington, Kentucky; and San Antonio.
“Because we’re in the health care space, I happened to be reading about Undue Medical and how they did something like this in another state,” recalled Garner. “I said, ‘we’ve got to reach out and see if this is something we can participate in.’ We found out they aggregated 12,000 residents with over $12 million in medical debt. All they needed was someone to support it and make it all go away.”
Undue Medical purchases the debt the same way for-profit debt collectors do — in bulk portfolios for often a penny or less on the dollar. They use donor funds to buy the debt and instead of collecting, they eliminate it. The debt is then completely erased.
There’s no application, no red tape and no tax consequences for residents, and credit reports will state the debt is paid. Undue Medical sends a letter to residents stating there is no longer a balance due and mentions the name of the sponsor, including contact information in the event residents want to offer their thanks.
Through the partnership with IdeaCrew, the average debt relief paid for each D.C. resident was $1,023.68.
“It’s no coincidence that this is in the ballpark of an average deductible in D.C. for people with insurance through work — many of the people we help have insurance but simply can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs,” said Anna Roberts, corporate partnerships lead for Undue Medical. “Most Americans don’t have $500 on hand for an unexpected medical expense, which means a $1,000 medical bill can be disastrous.”
Community Citizenship and ‘Working Together to Make a Difference’
Based in Northwest, D.C., IdeaCrew is a Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) offering full service IT and clinical consultancy.
The 70-employee company creates websites for health care agencies around the country, including DC Health Link, D.C. Behavioral Department of Health and Maryland Behavioral Health Services.
Garner said running his business in D.C., means adopting a community citizenship model.
“We do a lot of our business in D.C., so it was a very logical target to help the residents of D.C.,” said Garner who hopes to hear from residents that received a zero-balance notice. “Even though we’re not a behemoth business, we have got to take care of our community. It’s understanding the challenges of your community and trying to solve them. My dad taught me you can only be as strong as the community around you.”
In 2025, about 20% of D.C. adults experienced medical debt, according to Tzedek DC, a nonprofit whose mission is to safeguard the legal rights and financial health of low-income D.C. residents who fall prey to abusive debt collection practices and other consumer-related issues. It found that the District’s medical debt disproportionately impacts Black residents, people with disabilities and mothers.
In 2024, $42 million of medical debt was canceled for more than 62,000 D.C. residents after Tzedek DC lobbied District Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) to use the government’s public dollars investment fund to offer relief in partnership with Undue Medical.
“Community leaders, individuals and organizations often hear about our work and approach us about a campaign or partnership,” said Roberts. “This includes many state and local governments. We first started partnering with local governments in 2022, with Cook County, Illinois. Since then, we’ve successfully partnered with 28 state and local governments, securing $101 million in public funding to relieve $7.5 billion in medical debt for more than 4.9 million people.”
IdeaCrew’s donation went towards households earning below 400% of the federal poverty level (roughly $100K for a family of three) or whose medical debt equaled 5% or more of their annual income — working families, caregivers, seniors and people who did everything “right” but still ended up in debt through no fault of their own, Undue Medical explained.
“People tell us that having their debt abolished lifts a mental weight they’ve carried for years, gives them hope for their financial future, and helps them re-engage with the health care system they may have been avoiding out of shame or fear,” said Roberts. “As costs rise for families across the nation — groceries, gas, child care — many also tell us that debt relief allows them to put those funds toward other necessities. It will take all of us working together to make a difference — and I’m inspired every day by partners like IdeaCrew who are stepping up for their communities.”
