Cook County has erased nearly $665 million in medical debt for local residents since launching the effort in 2022, according to new figures released Thursday.

County leaders are celebrating the latest milestone of the program, which has so far helped almost 557,000 people have some of their debt abolished.

The effort has relieved the most debt for people on Chicago’s South and West sides and in the south and west suburbs.The amount erased ranges from around $600 to $4,000 on average per person depending on where they live.

“This has been a real boon to a substantial number of our residents,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “This I think is what the president of the United States at the time, Joe Biden, and Congress intended — that we make a real impact on peoples’ liv

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