WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Trinity Moravian Church has found an unexpected point of unity amid deep political divisions: medical debt. The 114-year-old congregation near Winston-Salem's old textile mills includes conservative Republicans who support President Trump sitting alongside liberal Democrats who oppose him. Yet four years ago, when the Rev. John Jackman proposed a mission to alleviate medical debt for area residents, members across the political spectrum rushed to contribute.

The church recently completed its eighth Debt Jubilee Project campaign, raising more than $17,000 that helped retire more than $2.2 million in unpaid medical bills owed by 1,631 residents of Forsyth County, N.C. The effort is part of a broader movement of churches and organizations using the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, which purchases unpaid medical bills from hospitals and debt collectors for pennies on the dollar so they can be forgiven.

Jackman says he got the idea during the pandemic when growing numbers of people turned to the church for help. "I was hearing about the reason they couldn't pay their electric bill was because they'd had a few days in the hospital and then they got hit with this huge bill and it snowballed," he recalls. "This is the easiest money I've ever raised. All I do is tell people what we're doing, and they write me a check."

What the Left Is Saying

Progressive members of Trinity Moravian describe medical debt as a symptom of systemic failures that disproportionately harm vulnerable Americans. Terri Mabe, 70, who has been coming to the church for decades and says she cannot stand the president, worked in the construction industry before retiring.

"In between projects you are a lot of times without a job," Mabe said. "Then you get sick. Next thing you know, you owe $5,000, $10,000 that you cannot pay. You're barely paying your home bills. Then you're like: 'I can't pay it. What do I do now?'"

Cynthia Tesh, 72, another liberal member, said the effort reflects a broader need to transcend partisan anger. "There's just so much division, so much anger," she says. "We need to look out for one another. If we start looking out for one another, things will change." Progressive advocates argue that bipartisan community efforts like this underscore how medical debt affects Americans regardless of political affiliation and highlight the need for broader policy reforms.

What the Right Is Saying

Conservative members frame the issue as one of basic fairness rather than a call for government intervention. Catherine Coe, who describes herself as conservative and voted for Trump, works in the accounting department of a hospital system and grew up attending Trinity with her grandmother.

"I see people going into debt every minute of every day," Coe says. "We're all just one medical bill from financial ruin." She argues that partisan differences should not matter when addressing medical debt. "There isn't a political divide when it comes to medical debt. It all brings us together."

Coe said she would support even more limits on how much medical debt people could be forced to carry but prefers private solutions over government mandates. "Why can't we cap medical debt at a certain dollar amount, and after that it's either written off or forgiven?" she asks. Conservative commentators like Glenn Beck have praised similar church-based efforts as examples of community-driven solutions working better than federal programs.

What the Numbers Show

Medical debt remains widespread across the American population. According to survey data cited by Undue Medical Debt, an estimated 100 million adults have some form of healthcare debt, and more than half of U.S. adults have had such debt at some point in their lives.

A 2025 poll conducted for Undue Medical Debt found strong bipartisan agreement on certain protections: approximately 75% of Republicans and about 90% of Democrats said collection agencies should not be allowed to garnish patients' wages to pay medical debt. In recent years, both blue and red states have passed bipartisan measures expanding protections from medical debt.

At Trinity Moravian Church, which has about 200 members, the economics work efficiently: $17,000 in donations purchased approximately $2.2 million in debt, a ratio of roughly 130-to-1, because medical debt can be bought for pennies on the dollar when creditors believe most debts will not be repaid.

The Bottom Line

The success of Trinity Moravian's Debt Jubilee Project illustrates a rare area of potential common ground in American healthcare debates: widespread frustration that sick patients end up in financial ruin. Paul Sluder, 78, who does not identify with either major political party and spent decades working at a credit union collecting debts, said most people want to pay what they owe.

"You have kind of no control. You have to take care of yourself or your loved ones," Sluder says. "It's incredibly unfair, and I think the system's out of whack." Church members say they hope their example might inspire others to find similar bipartisan causes. The congregation burned the list of 1,631 names whose debts were retired during a ceremony attended by local Scouting groups, with Jackman declaring: "On this day of Jubilee, we act to forgive the debts of many of our neighbors as God has forgiven our debts."