THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Carolyn Kenyon, a retired chemist, left, and Judith Jones, a psychoanalyst, both of Ithaca, N.Y., raised $12,500 and sent it to a debt-forgiveness charity, which then purchased a portfolio of $1.5 million of medical debts on their behalf, erasing the medical debts of hundreds of strangers.

Recently, the New York Times ran the story of two women who wanted to help out. Recognizing how out-of-control medical costs were breaking thousands of  families, they raised $12,500 over the summer and sent it to R.I.P. MEDICAL DEBT, a debt-forgiveness charity which purchased a bundle of assorted debts -- for about a penny or less on the dollar -- and then sent out yellow envelopes containing the message to the lucky recipients that their medical debts had been forgiven and cleared from their records.  These women, strangers to the people they helped, became like angels to them.

This charity was founded  in 2014 by a couple of debt collection industry executives, Craig Antico and Jerry Ashton, who have become like angels themselves.  When they realized how medical debts were crushing millions of Americans, they discovered that they enjoyed relieving debt much more than collecting it. "I do like the idea that people do not have to ask for help," said Mr. Antico. "The random act of kindness is kind of a cool thing."

It is certainly that, to say the very least. According to the Times, 

"Many people take on extra jobs or hours to afford health care, and 11 percent of Americans have turned to charity for relief from medical debts, according to a 2016 poll conducted by The Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation."

It should be noted that Ms. Kenyon and Ms. Jones are members of the Fingerlakes chapter of the  Campaign for New York Health, which supports universal health coverage through passage of the New York Health Act. I am a member, too. My purpose in writing this blog is to spread the word about the NYHA. I hope you'll spread the word, too. In that way, though we are strangers to each other and to those who benefit, we may help assure the passage of a bill in which the kindness of strangers will woven into the very fabric of society. In so doing, you and I may become a little like angels, ourselves.

Dio

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