** A fundraising effort for [Mary Lou Retton], the American gymnast who [became a sports icon] when she won Olympic gold in 1984, has reached its goal as she continues to battle a very rare form of [pneumonia,]**
How can it be that she didn’t have healthcare? Everyone is throwing a fundraiser for their healthcare.
Sounds like Subterfuge afoot!
She probably didn’t have an employer-based health plan - most likely she was self-employed or even retired. If she didn’t purchase an individual plan, she wouldn’t have coverage.
Then self-insure. She’s worth it. Why pay for something when you can socialize the costs and shamelessly pimp money from the general public? I do not believe she is doing the asking. It is others who are involved. Notice the cone of silence regarding details, all neatly deflected with “privacy concerns.” Nothing to see here people. Just give me some money
Well, I imagine that she did self-insure - meaning that she didn’t have third-party medical insurance coverage, and planned to pay for health care from her own assets. What she should have done is buy an individual policy. But those are expensive for someone in their mid-50’s. Certainly not as expensive as paying for (at least) a week in the ICU, so this was a bad wager in retrospect. Although she also raised a quarter million dollars in the GFM, so maybe not so bad a bet after all…
There are millions of people in that position Albaby, millions. But for somebody like her I would have thought she would have been more responsible. But this just tells us how out of wack our healthcare system is. Oh and I pay for my own healthcare so I know how expensive it is.
Andy
Yep. Though it’s easy to see how people who are wealthy and not experiencing current health problems might come to that conclusion. A private policy is something like $12K a year, with a non-trivial deductible along with it. If you’re a healthy 55-year-old, you’re probably getting the bad side of community rating, so it might makes some economic sense to self-insure rather than getting a third-party policy. Not a bet I’d want to take (I’m pretty risk-averse), but diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks.
Why would you expect her to be less innumerate than average? She’s an athlete, not a financial advisor.
But Medical care in this country is whacko anyway. It’s not just the cost, it’s the gatekeepers .
My guess is that she has one of those “faith-based”, Christian health insurance plans that Dave Ramsey sells.
intercst
She religious? I just know her from the Olympics many years ago. I don’t know if she’s ever accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior or not. I’m thinking it’s Generation Next trying not to spend down any inheritance.
I believe Mary Lou grew up in West Virginia. She could be a victim of the culture, despite her success.
If she had $1 million/year in endorsement income and was collecting it through some kind of business entity so that she could deduct business expenses against the income, a $40,000/yr gold-plated executive health plan would probably cost her half that after the tax deduction. That’s a bigger subsidy than she could get through Obamacare.
Maybe she had bad financial advisers?
intercst
I’ve seen net worth figures for her quoted between 2 and 8 million. And that doesn’t count whatever her husband (who is not a barber or a cab driver) might have. And I suspect that 2-8 million is “what’s on paper”, like Larry King. Remember when he died he was “worth” 2 million but of course it came out he was worth way more than that when you counted his trust funds and other squirrel-aways.
I think Mary Lou missed the crypto play. Tom Brady got $55 million from SBF for 60 hours of work over a 3-year period. That’s better than a Go Fund Me.
intercst
Whenever I see a Medical “Go Fund Me” today, the first question I ask is “Why didn’t these people sign up for Obamacare?”
If they are really that poor, Obamacare would be almost “free”.
If they live in a Red State, and the culture is corrupting their mathematical thinking, then they need some kind of retooling and retraining.
intercst
Retton is a proud supporter of the political party that doesn’t like ObamaCare. Maybe she opted out in protest?
From the link in the OP.
Slightly edited for brevity: {1) PRAY! and 2) help us with finances for the hospital bill," Kelley wrote on the fundraising page. “ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the page had exceeded its stated $50,000 goal and had raised more than $258,000, and counting.}
50k? really? that was the ‘goal/amount’?
Does GFM limit these pleas to $50k?
Raised 258k +.
I’m coming down with a case of @FCorelli skepticism.
ralph
I’m coming down with a case of Pneumonia, I found a new side gig.
Andy
What an interesting new way of referring to what parents do with their children once they’ve successfully kidnapped them back away from cults?
d fb
It works best if you’re famous and beloved by the public.
Then we should not save her wallet? Or her life?
I know I ain’t.
But the GoFundAndy scholarship program is a winner.