Dying woman’s last wish: to pay off others’ medical debt – $15m worth
Dying woman’s last wish: to pay off others’ medical debt – $15m worth
Casey McIntyre died from cancer on 12 November, but she devised a plan to cancel the medical debt of others as a parting gift
The New York City book publisher arranged to use money raised in her memory to buy up the medical debt of others – and then pay it off, according to a website which assisted her philanthropic effort and as of Friday had collected nearly all of her six-figure goal.
“A note to my friends: If you’re reading this, I have passed away,” read a recent post on McIntyre’s account at X – the social media platform formerly known as Twitter – which partly served to detail her campaign. “I’m so sorry. It’s horseshit and we both know it. The cause was stage four ovarian cancer.”
After describing how much she, her family and her friends loved each other, McIntyre’s account linked to her campaign at RIP Medical Debt’s website. Her accompanying farewell message added: “To celebrate my life, I’ve arranged to buy up others’ medical debt and then destroy the debt. I am so lucky to have had access to the best medical care at [the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York] and am keenly aware that so many in our country don’t have access to good care.”
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105Isn't he also in court for tax evasion right now? Other millionaires are likely a little less blatant about their tax evasion.
4He's in court for lying to lenders about how much he was worth. There may be some tax fraud (there certainly is), but that's incidental to the case.
11
Very distressing. And very distressing that it's even necessary.
Ffs, America! Wake the heck up. Vote for a party that actually wants to change this insane healthcare system. In every other developed country, this wouldn't even be an issue.
43I'm guessing in every other developed country, the medical industry doesn't have a stranglehold on the government.
9We can't. Unless we manage to do away with FPTP and install some version of RCV. It would also be useful to eliminate the Electoral College while we are at it, but I'm afraid that will have to wait till we get RCV as well
5Money that could have gone to research, kids, elderly, goes to pay off dystopian medical bills in clown car America.
3
I've argued in a few other posts with people who say shit like "Do you have access to healthcare? Did a hospital turn you away?"
My answer to them is to go fuck yourselves, all of you shitty rude "fuck you, I got mine, pull yourself up by your bootstraps" motherfuckers.
What we have access to isn't healthcare for one. It's sick-care, as the notion of leveraging preventative care is laughable for the majority of Americans as high deductible plans have resorted to more cost cutting measures that are ultimately self defeating. What we are left with is the specter of financial ruin hanging over every health concern we experience in our lives. People go from their 30's into their 40's and forego exams, put off any procedures, and often wait until it's far too late to treat something entirely preventable.
Last year a video got very popular when a guy was hanging up lights and fell of his ladder, tweaking his leg. His awesome neighbor came running over asking him not to move, and shouting out to another bystander to call an ambulance, as it was very clear he damaged his leg if not breaking it. As soon as the victim heard the words "call an ambulance" he snaps up declaring that he's fine, and there's no need. 50 years ago it would have been perfectly acceptable and find for the average person to get medical attention for a fall like that.
Look at the most recent healthcare worker's strike over the simple fact that they themselves cannot afford many of the procedures they themselves perform.
The United States is in a second gilded age, and we need to rake the wealthy over the coals. If we continue to have only prosperity for a small few, then those few are going to find their heads in baskets soon.
39Has lemmy got an equivalent to r/orphancrushingmachine? Because this would be perfect
30Yes, it is called upliftingnews@lemmy.world
And the cool part is that they don't even know it.
5Not that I know of
1
I am too European to find this an “uplifting news”, sorry.
26Very wise of her. Though this is peak capitalism, living in a country to depend on private donations.
15It seems the world lost a good one. Good on ya, Casey.
10It’s really nice that she was able to pay off 1.5 other people’s debt!
10Debt collectors purchase medical debt from banks for cents on the dollar. The fundraiser is going through an agency that's does this so they can help far more people.
John Oliver on LWT did the same thing in 2016, purchasing $15 million in debt for $60k. Here's that story.
13That’s all great, but I think you missed the joke. The joke was that US healthcare is so expensive that people find themselves with multiple millions of debt from a single disease or accident. The fact that selling the debt is a form of profit enterprise is the duh dun tsss of the joke.
15
Why is this on !upliftingnews?
10Just think of all those debt collectors getting bonuses. Doesn't it warm your heart with anger?
10They aren't paying off the medical debt at face value. They are purchasing it at the wholesale sale and then forgiving it.
4I mean... yes?
2
Wow. What a legacy. The idea of medical debt for necessary treatment is so wild to me though.
9its the number 1 cause of personal bankruptcy in the united states. people go their whole lives saving, even having insurance and lose it all dying penniless.
yay free market.
17It’s also a way that corporations aka wealthy people drain elderly people of their resources towards the end of their lives. Hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars that could have helped their children achieve some measure of financial independence instead goes to medical bills. This functions as a method of preventing generational wealth from accumulating, thus defeating class mobility.
17
I've got around $5000 of it. I wish I could have had some of it erased by this lady, but I'm glad others did.
8
dystopian news article spun as some kind of heartwarming thing.
9We need a r/OrphanCrushingMachine for stories like this.
2
Very kind of her. Back to surviving on the largesse of the rich again are we?
7Non Americans
6God, I love our medical system.
4Found the hospital administrator!
4
News: failing American health care system supplemented by generous donation of dying woman.
2WOW $15M?
That'll almost free up 2 whole people from medical debt!
1
