Sacramento Global Shapers partners with nonprofit to chip away at local medical debt

By Kate Gonzales | Solving Sacramento When Gustavo Garcia began looking for ways to alleviate people’s medical debt, his reasons were personal: mom and dad. They’d emigrated from Mexico to the United States in the early 1990s before Garcia’s birth and for as long as he recalled, he’d helped his parents translate and navigate the health care system — from appointments and diagnoses to mounting medical bills for various health issues.Early this year, after exorbitant medical costs led his parents to plan a move out of the U.S., Garcia began researching ways to help them. The online search revealed that, while he couldn’t buy off his parents’ individual debt, there was potential to help a wider net of people facing the same problem.On Nov. 4, Global Shapers Sacramento Hub, also known as Sacramento Global Shapers, kicked off Shred the Debt, a crowdfunding campaign to erase millions of dollars in medical debt for more than 2,500 people — at a fraction of the cost. To do this, the local community action group partnered with Undue Medical Debt, a national nonprofit experienced in addressing a uniquely American problem: the debt people take on when they can’t afford medical treatment.According to this year’s...