Medical debt erased in Wayne County
What they say
He says he erased medical debt for upwards of 300,000 Michiganders in Wayne County. His biography puts it as a program he spearheaded that will cancel up to $700 million in medical debt for 300,000 Michiganders over two years.
“I erased it for upwards of 300,000 Michiganders in Wayne County.”
What the record shows
As Wayne County's health director he announced the program in March 2024 with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, funded to relieve up to $700 million in medical debt for residents earning under 400 per cent of the federal poverty level or owing more than 5 per cent of their income, as his July 11, 2024 Senate testimony describes. The county's results dashboard, read on September 23, 2026, reports 102,246 people helped and $95,790,771.80 in debt relieved at face value, using $709,202.89 in county money. Bridge Michigan reported the county's figure on June 25, 2026 as $57.4 million for 83,291 residents.
Limit: He says upwards of 300,000 people. The county's own count is 102,246, about a third of that. The label credits the program he led, not the number. Face value is what the debt was worth, not what it cost to buy. The dashboard gives no as-of date, and the program started in 2024, so not all of it falls in his time as director.