Campaign for Medical Debt Relief Rally

Last Thursday, RI DSA held a rally at Providence City Hall to kick off our campaign for medical debt relief.

Rhode Island Democratic Socialists of America (RI DSA) calls on Lifespan, RI's largest nonprofit healthcare provider, to relieve medical debt in a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement with the City of Providence.

For the next PILOT agreement with Lifespan, we, the undersigned, demand:

  1. Forgive Medical Debt: Forgive all existing medical debt now, and, going forward, hold a debt jubilee every year in which Lifespan has a budget surplus.

  2. No Profiting Off Patients’ Debt: Guarantee basic protections for patients: no fees or interest on medical debt, no selling debt to third-party collectors, no extraordinary collection practices (arrests, liens, lawsuits, or wage garnishment), and no reporting medical debt to credit agencies.

  3. Democratic Control of Hospital: Reserve at least 51% of the seats on hospitals’ board of directors for worker and patient representatives, specifically: patients who have been admitted to the hospital/emergency room, and non-managerial hospital workers appointed by their labor unions.

For more information about the RI DSA's medical debt campaign, please review our 2024 summary of Providence Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) and Medical Debt. 


A video of the event at City Hall, courtesy of Steve Ahlquist, is available on YouTube