Overview
- Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced the statewide rollout on Oct. 15, 2026 in partnership with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt and said the program will extend the county model to more Illinois residents.
- Officials describe the program’s buying method as paying about $1 to erase $100 of billed medical debt, meaning the state purchases accounts from collectors and then cancels the balances.
- Published figures differ: state and county officials cited combined tallies as high as 1.5 million people and $2.4 billion erased, while contemporaneous reporting put the totals at about 694,000 people and $1.4 billion erased with roughly $10 million in taxpayer outlay.
- Academic research led by the NBER in 2024 found little effect of past cancellations on recipients’ credit scores or long‑term finances, and Undue says it has adjusted targeting rules to include households up to 400% of the federal poverty level and to pair relief with upstream supports.
- Pritzker said he wants to keep funding the program despite tighter budgets and the approach raises choices about which debts to buy, how recipients are identified, and whether the relief produces the broader financial gains policymakers aim for.