Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton, 55, is in intensive care with pneumonia in a Texas hospital. Her daughter, McKenna Kelley, said her gold-medal-winning mother is “fighting for her life” and currently unable to breathe on her own.
“Despite its popularity and portrayals as an ad-hoc safety net, medical crowdfunding is misaligned with key indicators of health financing needs in the United States. It is best positioned to help in populations that need it the least,” they added. One of the main reasons so many people turn to crowdfunding for medical debt: It usually takes people by surprise, said Patricia Kelmar, senior director of healthcare campaigns at U.S. PIRG, a public-interest research group.
Some 37% of people could afford to cover a $400 emergency expense last year, up from 32% in the previous year, according to the Federal Reserve. “The problem is the prices for prescription drugs and hospitals have been going up and up. That’s when people are suddenly hit with a big bill. People who have to contribute their own premiums will pick a high-deductible plan, as their monthly output will be less,” she added. Indeed, rising medical costs have long been one of the key drivers of inflation.