By Tucker Lupi, age 10
Many people are having difficulties paying for healthcare, and this is especially a problem in the United States. About half of U.S. adults say it is difficult to afford healthcare, according to KFF Health News. Furthermore, some Americans are taking themselves off of their healthcare plans because they can’t afford the cost of monthly premiums. The instability in the healthcare system creates uncertainty for the futures of many Americans.
About 70 million Americans use Medicaid health insurance for their doctors’ appointments, writes Shanty Tejeda in IndyKids, citing the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Medicaid is a government program that assists low-income families in paying for medical care. A new rule that will come into effect soon because of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” requires people to work 80 hours per month in order to qualify for Medicaid.
“However, not all Americans qualify for Medicaid or can afford private insurance,” writes Tejeda, leaving millions without insurance at all, or uninsured. Three in four uninsured adults have gone without needed healthcare due to high costs, according to KFF Health News.
Many more people are now starting to need assistance and end up using GoFundMe to pay for their medical costs. GoFundMe is a platform that crowdsources funds. It started out as a place for funding many things but is now a go-to for paying medical bills.
Ari Romio, a spokesperson for GoFundMe, told The Atlantic that “‘medical expenses’ is the most common category of fundraiser” on the site.
GoFundMe is effective in paying for medical bills as a shorter-term solution. However, crowdfunding is not effective in the long term. In a study reported by The Atlantic, people asking for money to pay for medical expenses on GoFundMe increased by 25 times between 2011 and 2020. This is concerning because of how many people are resorting to seeking financial assistance this way because they don’t have health insurance or their medical costs are so high.
About 9.5 million people are currently uninsured, and many will soon lose their Medicaid or be unable to afford their insurance under Trump’s bill. According to a KFF survey, around 41% of adults reported being in debt due to healthcare costs. This number might skyrocket as a result of the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
As Rob Solomon, former CEO of GoFundMe, told KFF Health News, “Politicians are failing us. Healthcare companies are failing us.”
