The numbers are staggering: Since it started in 2014, RIP Medical Debt has paid medical bills for more than 2.7 million families to the tune of $4.5 billion – that’s billion with a “B” – $90 million alone to veterans and families of veterans. And if Mikel Burroughs, a retired Army colonel, has his way, those numbers will continue to grow.
Burroughs recently completed the 3rd annual RIP Ride for Veterans motorcycle ride to raise awareness and funds for the non-profit RIP Medical Debt; he took a short detour to Henderson to meet Phyllis Maynard, a fellow veteran and local Disabled American Veterans service officer. Maynard served in the U.S. Navy as a petty officer on the USS Puget Sound. She met Burroughs through an online veterans’ support group about two years ago.
When Burroughs was in Fayetteville recently during his 32-state road trip, he decided he wanted to make the 2-hour trip to meet Maynard in person.
“It was wonderful coming in to Henderson and meeting with Phyllis,” Burroughs told John C. Rose on Town Talk, which aired Tuesday. Maynard wanted to make the visit more than just a pit stop along the 10,000-plus mile journey, so she had some other guests from the community to help her welcome Burroughs to Vance County.
Maynard said she appreciated Burroughs including a stop in Henderson on his itinerary and she “wanted it to end up being special for him – I really wanted to share it with the community,” she said. He seemed to be the “glue” of the support group, Maynard said of Burroughs. “Everybody loved the colonel,” she said, adding that the group learns from each other, from the low-stress comfort of their own homes.
The RIP Ride 4 Vets 2021 fundraising goal was $50,000. RIP Medical Debt buys debt from hospitals or from a secondary market and follows a process to determine which accounts fit the criteria to be marked as “paid in full.” Burroughs said every $1 the group spends buys $100 in medical debt.
“A lot of our veterans are struggling under the burden of health care debt across the country,” Burroughs said. Add financial burdens to those invisible illnesses like PTS (post-traumatic stress) and TBI (traumatic brain injury) and the negative effects definitely mount up.
He said two-thirds of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are the result of health-care debt.
“I’ve talked to a lot of veterans on the Warriors for Life program that are struggling financially,” Burroughs said. “I hear it first-hand – I hear it in their voice and they share and they get that off their mind…it has a profound effect on our veterans and it shouldn’t,” he said of overwhelming medical debt.
Mackenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, recently gave $50 million to RIP Medical Debt. “That’s going to abolish a lot of debt” over the next three years – for civilians and veterans alike.
Relieving the stress of medical debt for veterans is just one way Burroughs contributes to the veteran community. He facilitates the Saturday Warriors for Life group – other volunteers cover the other five groups each week. And a Life Readiness Center is being planned to open on 165 acres in Costa Rica which will provide different therapies and treatments to help veterans with PTSD and TBI. The goal is to partner with Victory for Vets Inc. to have readiness centers in 32 U.S. cities. The centers use brain mapping, hyperbaric oxygen treatment and neurofeedback to address veterans’ needs.
“We’re very excited about what the future holds and what we’re going to be able to do for veterans holistically,” Burroughs said.
The Warriors for Life group will be a perfect place for veterans who participate in the Life Readiness Centers. “We want veterans to be able to reach out to Warriors for Life and let down the warrior barrier,” Burroughs said. “Be vulnerable… you don’t have to prove to anyone on the call that you’re a warrior – we already know that you’re a warrior. And you’ll always be a warrior,” he said.
“We want you to let that vulnerability down and be able to share it and get it off of your mind. Honestly, being able to share with others who have gone through similar experiences, I think it helps the healing process.”
Learn more at www.ripmedicaldebt.org.
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