One state starts groundbreaking initiative to dissolve medical debt [Video]

Two years, from a distance, can feel like a blink. But within them can come immense change.

Two years ago, we met Samuel Kaye. He was a rabbi in Atlanta, raising money from his congregation to take on a little-discussed issue: medical debt. These days, he’s still a rabbi, but now in Toronto, in a country where medical debt is literally a foreign concept.

“I mean, Canadians are stunned when I tell them about my project. They’re very impressed. They don’t quite understand it,” Kaye said.

In America, too many understand it. The latest Census data says 1 in 6 American households holds some form of medical debt, typically due to massive bills at the hospital. A separate analysis estimates 20 million Americans carry medical debit for a total of $220 billion.

Allison Sesso is the president of RIP Medical Debt.Two years ago, the organization was a nonprofit on the rise, using fundraised money to purchase debt from …