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Advocate urges Leon County to use $500,000 to wipe out $50 million in medical debt; pushes charter protections for housing trust fund
Summary
Melanie Andar, policy director at Florida Health Justice Project, told the Charter Review Committee a one-time $500,000 county investment could eliminate an estimated $50 million in local medical debt and urged the committee to ask staff to present funding options; she also urged charter protections for an affordable housing trust fund.
Melanie Andar, policy director at the Florida Health Justice Project, told the Leon County Charter Review Committee that a small, one-time public investment could produce outsized relief for residents. "Initial estimates show that with a small 1 time investment of $500,000, we can pay off $50,000,000 in medical debt for county residents," she said during public comment, pointing to a recent Orange County program funded with American Rescue Plan Act dollars as a model.
Andar framed medical debt relief as both an economic and equity…
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