Medical Debt Relief Shows Limited Benefits for Mental Health and Credit

Study found wiping out $169M in medical debt for 83K people didn't improve mental health or credit scores on average

Compared to control group, debt relief had little impact on financial distress or mental health

Debt relief lifted credit scores a small amount - 3.6 points on average

Removing one debt issue didn't make people suddenly a good lending risk

Possible explanations relief was insufficient to address overall financial needs; reminder of debt triggered distress