RIP Medical Debt gives $278 million to a chain of hospitals to wipe out the overdue medical debt of some 82,000 former patients — most of whom would have qualified for the hospital's own indigent patient relief plan. Is it a good idea to give charity money to corporations, rather than to the people who incurred the debt? How is it possible that so many people didn't know about, or failed to complete applications for, the hospital's own plan designed to avoid driving people to the poor house?

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