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Americans are helping people pay off medical debt through crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, and some are even launching such campaigns for themselves. The survey, conducted from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29 using a nationally representative sample of 1,594 U.S. adults, found that 24% of respondents donated to a crowdfunding campaign to cover someone else’s medical expenses. It has been found. Expenses. Of this group, 3% reported that he had donated to her crowdfunding campaign at least 5 times.
When asked if they had ever started a crowdfunding campaign to pay off their own medical debt, 4% of respondents said they had started one, and 6% said they had started one for a family member. . (Another 86% said they had never tried crowdfunding for themselves or a loved one, and 5% said they were reluctant to say so.)
As previously reported, the same poll found that 46% of those surveyed said they worry “very often” or “somewhat often” about how they will repay their medical bills. I understand that. But while crowdfunding campaigns may provide temporary financial relief for some people, they are not the ultimate solution to paying off medical debt. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that only 12% of campaigns met their goals, and 16% received no donations at all.
“The GoFundMe page is really a barometer of a broken health care system,” Eva Marie Stahl, RIP Medical Debt’s vice president of public policy and program management, told Yahoo Life. “While it is important for individuals to feel like they can find a way to help with unpaid medical bills, it is not enough for those who are mired in debt.”
Stahl said many people with health insurance rely on these promotions because they have high deductibles that are out of proportion to their income levels. Unexpected medical expenses may occur that leave him with a $5,000 bill that he can’t cover without outside help. “More and more insured people are feeling overwhelmed by unpaid medical bills,” she says. “They’re not set up to succeed with their health plan because it’s not working for them in the first place.”
Susan Kahn, a senior research fellow at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC), examined data on crowdfunding campaigns surrounding medical debt. She points out that many of these campaigns target unexpected medical events, such as injuries or cancer treatment. “These are not expected charges,” she says. “Even people with very good insurance cannot predict the risks and affordability issues they will face.”
The topic of universal health care has long been politically divisive, but one thing Americans tend to agree on on all sides is that policy solutions are needed to combat medical debt. . Khan said the NORC survey shows Americans want systemic solutions to this problem and that the government should work with health care providers, clinics and hospitals to make health care more affordable. I discovered what I was thinking. Without these policies, many people would be dependent on others and could find themselves in precarious medical situations in the future.
“People who are at risk are helping other people who are at risk,” Khan said, noting that 40% of Americans who donated to crowdfunding campaigns had an annual income of $60,000. It pointed out that households with incomes below $71,000 are below the current national median income of $71,000. “Many donations are made by Americans who themselves may be facing medical debt issues.”
Kahn noted that policy changes could include improving the functioning of financial assistance programs and learning from changes in Medicare that reduced the cost of prescription drugs. But what’s clear is that people want a solution that doesn’t require them to click a donate button.
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