Medical debt is crushing working-class people. Organizers in Florida hope federal funds can help

State, local and tribal governments are coming up on a deadline to set plans to spend an infusion of pandemic-recovery dollars before the funds go away for good.

As part of the American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration sent local leaders $350 billion in emergency funding for public health and economic recovery. A significant chunk of that cash has already been spent. But in some cases, there is still money on the table.

Here & Now’s Deepa Fernandes learns more about how some local grassroots organizers hope to use the funds to relieve medical debt for residents. She speaks with Afua Atta-Mensah, chief of programs at the nonprofit Community Change and Tara “Glitter” Felten, a senior community organizer for the coalition Central Florida Jobs with Justice.