In death, one cancer patient helps to erase millions in medical debt

Patients in the U.S. healthcare system can quickly rack up big bills that push them into debt even if they have insurance.

A New York City woman who died Sunday from cancer has raised enough money to erase millions of dollars in medical debt with a posthumous plea for help.

Casey McIntyre told followers in a social media message posted by her husband that she had arranged to buy the medical debt of others as a way of celebrating her life.

McIntyre wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “if you’re reading this I have passed away.”

“I loved each and every one of you with my whole heart and I promise you, I knew how deeply I was loved,” the 38-year-old wrote. The posts included a link to a fundraising campaign started through the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt.

McIntyre’s husband, Andrew Rose Gregory, posted the messages on Tuesday, and the campaign quickly blew past its $20,000 goal. It had raised about $140,000 by Friday afternoon, or enough to buy around $14 million in medical debt.

Mr. Gregory said his wife had good health insurance and received great care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Even so, the couple saw some “terrifying” charges on paperwork for her care, he said.

“What resonated for me and Casey is, you know, there’s good cancer treatment out there that people can’t afford,” he said. “Instead of dreaming of a cure for cancer, what if we could just help people who are being crushed by medical debt?”