Medical debt should not determine whether a family can stay housed, access care, or build financial stability. Yet for thousands of Franklin County residents, medical debt continues to follow them long after a hospital visit ends.

Medical debt is not the result of irresponsibility. For many residents, this undue burden is caused by emergencies beyond their control. It is the result of a health care system that forces people to choose between their health and their financial future. Families are being sued, wages are being garnished, and residents are being denied housing and credit because of medical bills they never anticipated and could not afford.

This burden falls hardest on low-income communities and communities of color, deepening racial, economic, and health inequities that already exist in Columbus and Franklin County. These outcomes are the result of policy choices.

Columbus has the ability to act.

In late 2023, the Columbus City Council demonstrated real leadership by partnering with Central Ohio hospitals to forgive $335 million in medical debt for eligible residents. That initiative proved that medical debt relief is effective, legal, and achievable when the city chooses to lead.

We are calling on the City of Columbus to build on that progress.

We demand that Mayor Ginther and the Columbus City Council pass a resolution committing $50,000 to eliminate at least $500,000 in undue medical debt for Franklin County residents.

Columbus and Franklin County already invest public dollars in health and well-being. Allowing residents to be trapped in cycles of medical debt represents a preventable failure of public policy.

Health care should heal, not bankrupt. Medical debt is a policy choice, and Columbus can choose a better path.

By signing this petition, we urge city leaders to act now to eliminate medical debt and protect the financial and physical health of our communities.