The better investment - The Jewish Standard

^“Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, who sold half her Amazon stake, helped erase $40 billion in medical debt with $100 million in donations.”

Medical debt is one of those topics that mean nothing to some and everything to others. For those who are blessed with good health, the topic might sound boring. For those who have to navigate the incredibly bureaucratic and confusing maze of health insurance, it can mean a lot.

Because I am navigating a family medical situation, this headline interested me.

In the Economic Times article, I read about a nonprofit with a unique idea. Instead of letting medical debt go to collectors, they buy it themselves, often for pennies on the dollar. Then they forgive that debt. MacKenzie Scott has given around $130 million to the group since 2020, and with her gifts and other donors, it erased close to $40 billion in debt. What a brilliant idea!

It was brilliant, but I had further thoughts. And it must have been because I am a chassid of the Rebbe, and I read countless times how the Rebbe would always look not only to solve the problem, but to avoid it in the first place. When it came to medicine, in talks, letters, and meetings with doctors, the Rebbe would bring up the idea of preventive medicine. When it came to crime, the Rebbe took the same approach.

Thinking about the Rebbe’s approach, I wondered: What if we take this a step further? What if instead of solving the problem, we try to avoid it in the first place?

In the most basic way, maybe we can structure the medical industry better (something our Jewish brother Mark Cuban is obsessed with) so people won’t be accumulating medical debt in the first place?

The real conversation has to happen one step before that: Can we help people stay healthy so they’ll need far less treatment and medication?

I turned to my loyal helper (read: Claude, Opus 4.8 model) to do some research. I wanted to know what an investment of $100 million in preventive medicine would look like: exercise, building communities, and yes, even attending religious services. I also asked it to compare the results to the investment in medical debt forgiveness.

The answer was quite interesting. First, Claude pointed out that the effectiveness of medical debt forgiveness is inconclusive. According to a 2018 study by economists at Harvard, Stanford, and UCLA, forgiving medical debt had “no effect on mental or physical health, healthcare utilization, and financial wellness.” That made me even more interested in the other side of the coin: avoiding the problem in the first place.

Claude said that pointing at “boosting community, spirituality, attending religious services, and exercise” is looking in the right direction.

Because: Physical inactivity alone is linked to $192 billion in annual U.S. healthcare costs. Limited social connections among older adults add an estimated $6.7 billion a year to Medicare spending. And people who attend religious services more than weekly show 33% lower all-cause mortality, along with lower rates of depression, divorce, and suicide.

Talk about real savings! And it doesn’t stop there: healthy, connected, and purpose-driven people tend to strengthen the people around them, so the benefits will keep on growing.

To Ms. Scott: If you are reading this and want to discuss the idea further, please get in touch with me!

Since I am not expecting any email from Ms. Scott anytime soon — and while all the above seems like a big-picture discussion that is not relevant to most of us, the truth is that this conversation is very relevant.

We are just a few weeks away from Rosh Hashanah. On Rosh Hashana, many have a beautiful tradition of accepting a new year resolution that will hopefully be one positive step toward making our lives better. Yes, it’s so much easier to deal with problems and put out fires, but now is the time to do the opposite: commit to something that will make us stronger, make us closer to G-d, and bring us closer to our purpose.

And if you want help with a new year resolution, feel free to get in touch with me as well!

Wishing everyone a Shana Tova!

Rabbi Mendy Kaminker is the rabbi of Chabad of Hackensack and an editorial member of Chabad.org. He looks forward to your comments at rabbi@chabadhackensack.com.

Opinion