More than 35 percent of U.S. households have medical debt, according to an article published in August 2025. Citing 2024 data, the authors wrote that 21 percent had a past-due medical bill and another 23 percent were paying a medical bill over time to a provider – most often to a physician or a dentist.
Many providers like hospitals and private practices use third-party agencies to get payments from patients. These third-party agencies “buy” the debt at pennies on the dollar and then contact the patients to get the payment due.
Undue Medical Debt is one of those third-party agencies, but its mission is to erase medical debt by partnering with civic groups, churches and other organizations to pay off medical debt for qualified recipients.
The Rotary Club of Oxford partnered with Undue Medical Debt and erased a whopping $2 million in medical debt for individuals in North Carolina – 597 of whom reside in Granville County.
“Medical debt is a huge problem,” said Oxford Rotarian and dentist Bart Cleary. “It means a lot to us and it means a lot for the individuals” that the local Rotary group could have such a meaningful impact in the local community.
The club contributed proceeds from fundraisers like poinsettia sales, beer and wine tasting events and more, and the district Rotary organization kicked in a matching grant. An anonymous donor also provided matching funds to elevate the amount the Rotary club could provide for the project.
As Rotary Club President-Elect Don Fick explained, the debts are collected and acquired by Undue Medical Debt and the Rotary funds paid it off.
The recipients remain anonymous – and it’s not something people can apply for, he said. They must meet eligibility criteria, he added, to make sure that the debts are paid for those who are most adversely affected by unpaid medical bills.
Recipients will simply get a letter in the mail stating that their debt has been cleared.
“We don’t know their names, their debt or what kind of medical service they had,” Fick said.
In his role as pastor, the Rev. Glenn Stallsmith said it’s been his experience that people who come to him for guidance or advice seldom talk about problems caused by the burden of medical debt.
“This issue of medical debt is one of those things that people don’t like to share,” Stallsmith said.
But when people are not able to pay their bills, they often delay future health care or health care for their children.
Getting the club to buy in to the project wasn’t difficult, he said. “It wasn’t a hard sell – it was almost a unanimous decision.”
To learn more about the work and mission of the Rotary Club of Oxford, visit oxfordncrotaryclub.org. You can send donations to Oxford Rotary Club, P.O. Box 1584, Oxford, NC 27565. The club meets on Thursdays at 12 noon at House of Ribeyes in Oxford, located at 102 Roxboro Rd.
To learn more about the work of Undue Medical Debt, visit unduemedicaldebt.org.
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