India, Oct. 7 -- Most of us probably know the sinking feeling of opening a bill we cannot pay. This summer, hundreds of thousands of Californians were supposed to get a very different letter, one that said their medical debt was gone. On June 25, 2026, Undue Medical Debt, a nonprofit that buys and erases unpaid bills, announced that a gift from Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr wiped out more than $550 million owed by more than 261,000 people. The group called it its largest statewide debt cancellation in California so far, and said notices would start arriving in mid-July.

No one had to apply for anything. Undue buys qualifying debt in bulk from hospitals, physicians' groups and collection agencies for pennies on the dollar, then erases it ...