Christmas came early in Connecticut as the governor announced nearly 23,000 residents have had all or some of their medical debt wiped clean thanks to a new state initiative.

Gov. Ned Lamont said on Monday his administration partnered with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt to negotiate with hospitals and other providers to eliminate large portfolios of “qualifying medical debt” by using public investments as leverage.

The governor’s office said there is no application process and requests can’t be made, but patients who qualify have an income that is at or below four times the federal poverty level. Or they have medical debt total that is 5% or more of their income.