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Greg Stadter's avatar

Excellent read and I've been interested in the burden medical debt puts on families, especially low-income ones. Did Ald. Meindl cite any sources for the below claim? It is powerful and I'd like to advance in other circles, but want to understand the source before I run with it.

"Seventeen percent of households, and a quarter of households of color in Milwaukee county, are in medical debt collections. Far above the national average. Medical illness and the associated debt in many cases is not some personal failing of the individual. Medical debt straps families and prevents dollars from circulating in our communities and small businesses. "

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Andrew's avatar

Greg,

Great questions and thank you for your engagement. During my speech I did cite the Urban Institute. I have links to sources below. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Medical Debt Consequences: https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-health-care-debt-survey-main-findings/

Medical Debt Map (household data): https://apps.urban.org/features/debt-interactive-map/?type=overall&variable=totcoll

The Impacts of Individual and Household Debt on Health and Well-Being: https://www.apha.org/Policies-and-Advocacy/Public-Health-Policy-Statements/Policy-Database/2022/01/07/The-Impacts-of-Individual-and-Household-Debt-on-Health-and-Well-Being

Medical Debt and Bankruptcy: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/11/this-is-the-real-reason-most-americans-file-for-bankruptcy.html

My last claim: medical debt straps families and prevents dollars from circulating in our communities and small businesses is an observation. If medical debt dollars are garnished/collected by collection agencies with headquarters (who knows where), those dollars are no longer circulating in our local economies.

Dollars need to keep circulating in local economies for good local economic health.

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Greg Stadter's avatar

Thanks for your leadership on this issue, Alderman Meindl and for the sources- this is extremely helpful. Also thanks to Ben at the Wauwatosa for the good article!

Also saw the issue in today's Journal Sentinel: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2023/01/17/milwaukee-county-residents-could-see-153m-in-medical-debt-erased/69792673007/

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Andrew's avatar

Sadly, I have grave concerns the opposition may tank our Wauwatosa proposal this evening. It is going before Council at Tosa City Hall at 7:30 pm. While public comment may be limited at the council meeting, any letters to alders, the mayor, and the city administrator or even holding a sign during the meeting would make a huge difference.

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Andrew's avatar

Thank you for covering city hall!

I couldn't spit it out during the meeting, but we were talking about the administrative expense ratio. It is not a "cut." The administrative expense ratio measures the percentage of an organization's expenses allocated to administrative costs. There is a myth that non-profits shouldn't have administrative expenses, but that isn't possible in most cases.

Charity Navigator generally gives its highest rankings to organizations that spend less than 15% of expenses on overhead. The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance recommends a ratio of less than 35%. RIPMedical Debt is at 15%. Almost all of their administrative expense ratio comes from the Mackenzie Scott donations and not government funding.

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Ben's avatar

Thanks for the clarification. I agree that it is not possible to run an organization without overhead expenses. Not sure why there was so much emphasis on this point.

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