A New York woman who died of ovarian cancer was able to raise enough money after her death to cancel millions of dollars in medical debt for other Americans.
In a message posted on social media, Casey McIntyre’s husband announced the death of his partner and what she had accomplished.
“Note to friends: If you’re reading this, I’m dead. I’m so sorry, it’s bullshit and we all know it. The cause was stage 4 ovarian cancer,” it was posted on Nov. 14 on Channel X.
“To celebrate my life, I arranged to buy out other people’s medical debt and destroy it. “I am very fortunate to have access to the best medical care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and I am fully aware that many people in our country do not have access to quality care,” he said.
To achieve success, the 38-year-old launched a fundraising campaign on the platform of the non-profit organization RIP Medical Debt. As of Tuesday, nearly $573,500 has already been raised.
RIP Medical Debt uses data analytics to find U.S. households whose income is less than four times the poverty level or whose medical debt is 5% or more of their annual income.
Thus, the organization buys debt in packages, allowing it to write down “nearly 100 times its value in medical debt,” as it explains on its website.
“In general, a dollar of donation eliminates $100 of medical debt,” Daniel Lempert, vice president of communications at RIP Medical Debt, told the New York Times.
According to him, the Casey McIntyre campaign is the first to be organized after his death.
“In terms of fundraising, I don’t know if we’ve ever seen anything raise as much money as Casey’s campaign did so quickly,” he said.
RIP Medical Debt has already paid off $10.4 billion in medical debt for more than 7 million Americans.
