A total of 368 Bandera County residents were among the more than 4,500 people across 19 Texas Hill Country counties who had their medical debt erased, thanks to a grassroots effort that started in Mason.
The initiative, called “The Skye’s the Limit” campaign, raised over $20,000, ultimately eliminating $5.5 million in outstanding medical debt.
The effort began when a group of Mason residents sought a way to help neighbors struggling with medical bills.
Their research led them to Undue Medical Debt (UMD), a nonprofit that purchases large bundles of unpaid medical debt for pennies on the dollar and forgives it.
Typically, after hospitals and providers make multiple unsuccessful attempts to collect payments—usually over 12 to 18 months—they sell the debt to collection agencies.
UMD intercepts this process by buying the debt directly and forgiving it, with no tax consequences for recipients or donors.
Initially, organizers aimed to erase medical debt only in Mason County, but UMD requires a minimum of $1 million in available debt for a campaign.
Expanding the effort to include surrounding counties, UMD identified $3.4 million in unpaid medical bills in Mason, Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, McCulloch and San Saba counties. The cost to purchase and forgive this debt totaled $14,000.
“The Skye’s the Limit” campaign launched in late July with a Nov. 16 fundraising deadline. Volunteers created a website with donation links, distributed brochures, and reached out to local churches, civic organizations and newspapers.
Donations came in quickly, primarily from individuals but also from organizations such as Create Healthy, a Hill Country philanthropy supporting health and wellness initiatives.
Other significant contributions came from Grace Episcopal Church in Llano, St. Barnabas Episcopal and Bethany Lutheran churches in Fredericksburg, Hilda United Methodist Church in Hilda, First United Methodist Church in Mason, and Hill Country Telecommunications.
Many donors remained anonymous.
By Oct. 20, less than three months after launching, the campaign met its $14,000 goal.
Rather than closing the campaign early, organizers opted to continue raising funds until the deadline, announcing that additional donations would go toward eliminating medical debt in other counties, including Bandera.
By Nov. 16, total donations had surpassed $20,000, allowing the campaign to expand its reach to 12 additional counties: Menard, Sutton, Bandera, Blanco, Kendall, Brown, Coleman, Concho, Mills, Real, Runnels and Schleicher.
Because UMD ensures anonymity, campaign organizers do not receive the names of debt recipients, nor do recipients know their benefactors.
Those affected only receive a letter informing them that their medical debt has been paid in full and their credit cleared.
Organizers extended special thanks to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Mason for sponsoring the campaign, as well as the Episcopal Churches in the Northern Convocation and the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas for their support.
However, they emphasized that the campaign’s success was due to the generosity of Hill Country residents.
“The generosity of the people living in the Hill Country is simply overwhelming,” a campaign spokesperson said.
