‘An Arm and a Leg’: Viral TikTok video serves up recipe to ‘crush’ medical debt

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Feb 15 2021

Jared Walker, who runs a nonprofit that helps people pay medical bills, posted a TikTok video explaining the recipe to "crush" hospital bills via charity care policies.

"What that means is that if you make under a certain amount of money, the hospital legally has to forgive your medical bills," Walker said in the video.

The video has been viewed more than 10 million times. Walker's organization, Dollar For, had already helped wipe out millions in medical bills before he posted that video.

Internal Revenue Service filings from thousands of nonprofit hospitals show they sent $2.7 billion in bills over a year to patients who probably qualified for free or discounted care.

That number is more likely a floor than a ceiling, experts said.

The strategy Walker espouses won't work for all bills, but it could help address some of those billions — and is a good place to start.

Here's a transcript of this episode.

“An Arm and a Leg” is a co-production of Kaiser Health News and Public Road Productions.

To keep in touch with "An Arm and a Leg," subscribe to the newsletter. You can also follow the show on Facebook and Twitter. And if you've got stories to tell about the health care system, the producers would love to hear from you.

To hear all Kaiser Health News podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to "An Arm and a Leg" on iTunes, Pocket Casts, Google Play or Spotify.