Home / Health / Mom's Final Wish Cancels $120M in Medical Debt
Mom's Final Wish Cancels $120M in Medical Debt
1 Oct
Summary
- A New York mother's posthumous campaign erased over $120 million in medical debt.
- The viral fundraiser utilized Undue Medical Debt to cancel healthcare bills.
- Tens of thousands of low-income families received debt relief anonymously.
A New York mother's final wish has generated millions of dollars, allowing a non-profit to cancel over $120 million in medical debt for tens of thousands of people nationwide. Casey McIntyre, who passed away in November 2023 at the age of 38 from ovarian cancer, established a debt jubilee fundraiser with Undue Medical Debt before her death.
Her posthumous message read, "To celebrate my life, I've decided to buy up medical debt and then destroy it." This campaign rapidly gained global support, raising over $1 million in initial donations. Undue Medical Debt leveraged these funds to purchase and erase $44.9 million in healthcare debt for more than 51,000 individuals by December 2023.
As donations continued to surge throughout 2024, a second round of relief in December 2024 erased an additional $75 million, bringing the total debt cancellation to over $120 million. McIntyre's husband, Andrew Gregory, stated that her motivation stemmed from anger at the unjust healthcare system and a desire to alleviate the financial burden of illness for others.
Undue Medical Debt targets medical debt held by individuals earning four times or less than the federal poverty level. Allison Sesso, CEO of Undue Medical Debt, praised McIntyre's campaign as a remarkable act of generosity that inspired other groups to address medical debt in their communities. The fundraising page remains active, continuing McIntyre's mission.
