More than 97,000 Connecticut residents will receive letters in the mail starting this week informing them that some or all of their medical debt has been erased.
Governor Ned Lamont’s administration launched the program in partnership with the national nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt to give relief to qualifying residents who are having difficulties paying outstanding medical bills.
This fourth round of the initiative is eliminating nearly $315 million in medical debt. In total, more than 252,000 Connecticut residents have had more than $513 million in medical debt cancelled since the initiative began in 2024.
Under the initiative, Undue Medical Debt leverages investments from the state to negotiate with hospitals and other providers to forgive large, bundled portfolios of qualifying medical debt owed by Connecticut patients.
To be eligible, residents must have income at or below four times (400%) the federal poverty level or have medical debt that is 5% or more of their income. The current federal poverty level is an annual income at or below $33,000 for a family of four.
Since these medical debts are acquired in bulk and belong to those least able to pay, they cost a fraction of their face value, often pennies on the dollar.
Because this debt erasure occurs through the purchase of bundled portfolios of debt from hospitals and collection agencies, there is no application process for this relief and it cannot be requested.
Connecticut residents who have had some or all of their medical debt cancelled will receive an Undue Medical Debt branded envelope with the state seal, containing a letter from Undue Medical Debt in the mail over the next several days.
“Nobody should go broke just because they got sick, but our healthcare system too often leaves families on the hook for bills they simply can’t pay,” Allison Sesso, president and CEO of Undue Medical Debt, said. “That’s exactly why partnerships like this one matter so much.”
The first round of the debt relief in December 2024 erased approximately $30 million in medical debt for approximately 23,000 people; the second round in May 2025 erased more than $100 million in medical debt for approximately 100,000 people; and the third round in December 2025 erased more than $63 million for approximately 40,000 people.
Lamont said he will continue partnering with Undue Medical Debt this year to cancel additional medical debt. The governor and the Connecticut General Assembly enacted legislation that makes $6.5 million in funding available for this initiative through 2026.
A number of states including Vermont, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Delaware, Arizona and Illinois have similar programs that provide citizens with relief from medical debt.
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Connecticut
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