On Monday, March 13, Akron City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting a plan for medical debt relief for thousands of city residents.
The resolution is a big step forward in the advocacy efforts of students from NEOMED. Leaders from the NEOMED chapter of Students for a National Health Program, including second-year medicine students Max Brockwell, Emily Huff, Michael Massey and James Moore, proposed the resolution which was presented by Ward 1 Councilwoman Nancy Holland. They and other students and physicians gave testimony as individuals in support of the resolution.
If the mayor agrees with the resolution, Akron would partner with RIP Medical Debt, a New York nonprofit that negotiates and buys consumer medical debt held by hospitals and other health care providers.
Read coverage of the meeting in the Akron Beacon Journal: Akron City Council pushes mayor to fund medical debt relief program for residents
Those presenting testimony in support of the resolution included:
Student Advocates
- Sam Accordino
- Anjali Agarwal
- Max Brockwell
- Dominic Congeni
- Colin Fricker
- Michelle Helou
- Emily Huff
- Michael Massey
- Brooks McKinley
- James Moore
- Brandon Petrovich
- Saaleha Shamsi
- Dean Snelson
- Michael West
Physicians
- Dr. Koyejo Oyerinde
- Dr. Sterling Shriber
- Dr. Joseph Zarconi