'Dollar For' gets people debt relief legally required by hospitals to provide

By Ashley Sterner,

Published August 6, 2025 at 10:01 AM EDT

Medical bills are seen in Temple Hills, Md. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, File, AP

Last year about one in three Americans carried medical debt, and nearly one third of them took out loans -- totaling 74 billion dollars. We hear about ‘Dollar For’ - a non profit that teaches people how to eliminate medical debt by accessing financial assistance hospitals are legally required to provide. We talk with founder Jared Walker, and Sally Kervin and Nayano Taylor-Neumann, two Marylanders who had their medical debt erased.

Links: Dollar For, Maryland Hospital Assoc. financial assistance.

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Ashley Sterner

Ashley Sterner is the co-host of WYPR’s On The Record. With co-host Sheilah Kast, Ashley interviews artists, scientists, community leaders, and others.

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Melissa Gerr

Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'

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