An oncology doctor has wiped $650,000 worth of medical debt for 200 patients, giving them an incredible start to 2021.
Dr. Omar Atiq, who has been a medical oncologist for nearly 40 years, told Good Morning America, "Over time I realized that there are people who just are unable to pay. So my wife and I, as a family, we thought about it and looked at forgiving all the debt."
"We saw that we could do it and then just went ahead and did it," he said.
Dr. Atiq had closed his cancer clinic in Pine Bluff, Arkansas last March. He currently works as a professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
Around Christmastime, hundreds of Atiq's former patients received a festive message that read, "I hope this note finds you well. The Arkansas Cancer Clinic was proud to serve you as a patient.
"Although various health insurances pay most of the bills for the majority of patients, even the deductibles and co-pays can be burdensome. Unfortunately, that is the way our health care system currently works.
"Arkansas Cancer Clinic is closing its practice after over 29 years of dedicated service to the community. The clinic has decided to forego all balances owed to the clinic by its patients. Happy Holidays."
The kind doctor's former patients had medical debts amounting to hundreds to thousands of dollars due to cancer treatments, Atiq said.
"Since I started practicing, I’ve always been rather uncomfortable with sick patients not only having to worry about their own health and quality of life and their longevity and their families and their jobs but also money," he said. "That’s always tugged at me."
"You add to it the absolute devastation that the [coronavirus] pandemic has wrought, and you think thank God that we’re fairly comfortable and this was something we could at least do to help the community," said Atiq, who made the decision with his wife, Mehreen.
"I saw patients over the years who just didn’t have anything or who went bankrupt trying to pay for their treatment," he said. "In many ways, it seems like a totally unfair situation."
Bea Cheesman, president of RMC of America, the billing company that worked with Atiq to wipe his patients' debts, described it as a "very kind gesture."
"Dr. Atiq is a very caring individual and he’s always been extremely easy to work with as a client," Cheesman told GMA. "I think personally that it’s just a wonderful thing that he and his family did in forgiving this debt because the people with oncology bills do have more challenges than the bulk of the population."
"One of the things that always bothers everyone I believe is to see sick patients having to worry about things other than they’re getting healthy or getting better," Atiq said.
"I just hope that it made it a little bit easier for them. That’s it," he added. "I just hope that it gave them a little sigh of relief and made it easier for them so they could face other challenges they may be facing in their lives."
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