Got an Undue Medical Debt Letter in New York? What It Means, and What It Does Not Do

What does an Undue Medical Debt letter mean?

It means a medical debt you owed has been bought and erased as a charitable gift. Undue Medical Debt is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, formerly named RIP Medical Debt, that buys unpaid medical debt in bundled portfolios and abolishes it instead of collecting it. Its own wording is plain: if you received one of its envelopes, you no longer owe the medical debt or debts listed in the letter.

The debt is gone, not paused, not settled for a discount, not transferred to a new collector. Undue states that it never collects on the debt it purchases. Nobody will call you later about the same account on Undue’s behalf, and Undue expects nothing in return.

In New York City the letter often arrives because of a city contract. The NYC Medical Debt Relief Program is a partnership between the City and Undue: Undue buys medical debt owed to New York City hospitals and providers, and also from commercial debt buyers and collection agencies, identifies who is eligible, and sends the notice. The city’s January 2025 announcement said the letters come from the mayor’s office and Undue together and tell recipients their outstanding medical debt “has been abolished”.

Is the Undue Medical Debt letter legit or a scam?

The organization and the New York City program are real, and a genuine letter is good news. The scam risk is in imitations, and there is a simple test: a real relief letter takes nothing from you. It does not ask for a payment, a card number, a bank login, your Social Security number or a processing fee.

Undue’s own anti-phishing guidance gives the rest of the checklist:

• Check the web address. Legitimate Undue communications direct you to unduemedicaldebt.org and nowhere else. Watch for misspellings and swapped characters.
• Do not click links in an unexpected email or text, even one that looks like Undue’s. Type the address into your browser instead.
• Be suspicious of urgency. Threats, deadlines, “act now” and promises of rewards are warning signs.
• Never send personal or financial information in response to a message you did not expect. Undue asks people to forward suspicious emails or web addresses to its team so it can report them.

If you are still unsure, call 311 and ask about the NYC Medical Debt Relief Program. You never need to call a number printed in a message you doubt.

Who gets the letter, and why can’t I apply?

You get a letter when two things line up: one of your medical debts sat in a portfolio Undue bought, and you met its financial-need criteria. You cannot ask to be included. Undue says it cannot relieve debt by individual request, because it buys bundled debt by the thousands and can erase only what hospitals, physicians and collectors agree to sell.

The criteria are built into its system and applied to every account it buys:

The New York City program uses the same two tests. The city’s 311 page states that there is no application process and that, if your debt is eliminated, you will receive a notification letter.

So anyone offering to “get you into” the Undue program for a fee is not part of it. And anyone who did not get a letter has not been rejected: the debt simply was not in a portfolio that was bought.

What the relief does and does not do

The relief erases the specific accounts printed in the letter. It is precise, and the edges matter.

The first row of the right-hand column causes the most confusion. One hospital visit routinely produces several bills: the hospital’s own account, a physician group’s account and sometimes an ambulance or lab bill. Undue can only erase the account it bought. If another bill from the same date is still arriving, it is a different account and needs its own answer, usually hospital financial assistance or a payment plan.

On taxes, Undue’s explanation is that the relief is a gift from a detached and disinterested third party, so the relieved debt does not count as income to the person who owed it. The city’s announcements say the same in shorter words: recipients owe nothing on the debt and face no tax penalty.

What about my credit report?

The letter erases the debt; it does not by itself erase a credit entry. Undue’s FAQ does not describe what happens to a collection already on a report, so check rather than assume.

New York already limits how medical debt reaches a report. Under the Fair Medical Debt Reporting Act, in force since December 13, 2023, hospitals, licensed providers and ambulance services may not report medical debt to credit bureaus, must forbid their collectors from doing it, and any debt reported in violation is void. Separately, the three national bureaus do not report medical collections under $500, remove paid medical collections, and wait a year before a new medical collection can appear. A federal court fight in 2025 clouded enforcement of state bans, which is why checking matters. The credit report rules in full.

What to do after the letter, situation by situation

What to say on the phone if a collector calls about a listed account:

“That account was purchased and abolished by Undue Medical Debt. I have the letter and will send you a copy. Please close the account, stop all contact about it, and confirm in writing.”

If you have medical debt that Undue did not reach

Most medical debt in New York City will never be in a portfolio Undue buys, and New York law gives you stronger tools than waiting for a letter.

A New York hospital may not send your account to collections or sue within 180 days of the first bill, or while a financial assistance application is pending. At or below 200% of the poverty level an uninsured patient owes nothing out of pocket for hospital care; between 201% and 300% the charge is capped at 10% of the Medicaid rate, and between 301% and 400% at 20%. A hospital may not sue anyone with household income under 400% of the poverty level, and no provider may garnish wages or put a lien on your home for medical debt. Every New York medical debt protection, with dates.

For a debt already with a collector, the first move is a written request for validation. What to send a collector first.

The city also funds free one-on-one financial counseling: call 311 and say “financial counseling.”