Health Care Roulette
The GoFundMe-reliant meltdown of America’s health care system
My younger sister recently had to launch a GoFundMe account to pay for an out-of-network surgery that, along with days of unpaid time off from her job, without help would drive her and her family deep under financial water, if not bankrupt them.
This isn’t a new story in American health care. GoFundMe is packed with fundraisers meant to cover surgeries, cutting edge treatments, and other medical costs.
The platform is well aware of its role in health care as well as other areas of basic survival. CEO Tim Cadogan wrote an op-ed in early 2021 essentially begging the U.S. Congress to do its job and support the American people with the tax dollars we all pay:
“We’ve known for years that most Americans don’t have $500 to spare to cover unexpected emergencies, like a car breakdown. Now, it’s as if their entire lives are breaking down again and again and again.”
He wrote about a “level of desperation” and the specific areas of food, monthly bills, and small business support that had seen a surge in fundraising requests over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fundraising platform also drew attention to the reliance on GoFundMe for health care costs in a Facebook post:
