This is so sad. A Spotfund account has been set up as she doesn’t have medical insurance.
Mary Lou Retton illness: McKenna Kelley reveals mother’s pneumonia diagnosis | CNN
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Not wishing her, or anyone, any ill will, and I certainly hope she recovers. However, her legacy is tainted by lobbying Congress against passing a bill that was designed to protect athletes from child sexual assault as a result of the Nassar scandal.
And I’m unclear on how her choice to not have health insurance now warrants a fundraising drive.
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Yes, that choice is hard to understand. I cringe every time I pay my $770 monthly premium, but the bill takes top priority.
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Early this morning, a cable news network shared that the fundraising effort had more than doubled its stated goal of $50,000.
Isn’t it common for higher net worth people to forgo health insurance since the benefits are capped? I see some estimates of her worth in the single-digit millions, which would be too low for me to forgo insurance, but her risk tolerance may be higher.
If Retton is currently in the ICU, are care decisions dependent on her ability to pay? Wondering if the daughter jumped the gun on the fundraising.
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I just read this as I got home. It makes me so sad. I hope she pulls through. Tragic that she does not have health insurance.
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So if she’s so wealthy, why does her family need to fund raise for the medical costs?
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Great question! I doubt she has much wealth, or enough to comfortably pay a few hundred thousand dollars in medical bills. But I also wonder if she is aware that her daughter is fundraising.
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She well may not. If she’s on the vent, they most likely have her heavily sedated.
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You are right. The article says she can’t breathe on her own, which means she is on a ventilator… very sad. Hope she pulls through.
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It is unwise, no matter how wealthy anyone might or might not be, to forego health insurance. No reason to pay out of pocket at 100% of charges for healthcare. At the very least it helps to cap the out of pocket expenses and the patient is afforded the in-network rates.
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I deleted my original post because it was not relevant
Agreed! My H’s insurance premium has increased for 2024 by 16.78% (I’m on Medicare). Effective January 1, we will be paying $1570/mo for H, plus whatever my two kids’ insurance will be. Paying our monthly health insurance premiums is our #1 priority, IMO, MariLu’s daughter should find other ways to fund her mom’s healthcare than preying on other people 's goodwill.
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As of this afternoon, the fund me is at $260,000.
I agree. Retton is a very wealthy woman. No reason she couldn’t pay for her own insurance. ETA: online sources say she’s “only” worth $2 million now. That’s still enough to buy insurance.
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Or maybe all of her “wealth” is tied up in non-liquid assets or trusts. That’s very possible.
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The article doesn’t explicitly say, but I gather that Goldman considers > $10M to be ultra high net worth. They suggest getting insurance.
“45% of Ultra-High Net Worth Individuals Have No Health Insurance… Even if someone can pay these bills out of pocket, their investment portfolio may never recover from this loss of earning power.”
4 Things to Know About Ultra-High Net Worth Lifestyle Clients | Goldman Sachs PFM.
Never. A hospital would never deny emergency care because of lack of insurance. They’d apply for medicaid or another public health program. For a scheduled operation or treatment, they might delay the procedure or transfer to another facility, but not in an ICU.
When my daughter was in the NICU, there were babies born in the wrong hospital for insurance, but they weren’t transferred until they were VERY stable, often a month or more. They would not deny treatment.
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I saw her on a commercial very recently. Maybe she needed to go out and earn more money
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Wikipedia says Retton was divorced in 2018, so if she passes (assuming she has willed her estate to her kids), would the hospital put a lien on the estate for the bills?
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They could if the bills go unpaid. Often, cash pay patients can have their bills reduced to a much lower rate than the full price rack rate.
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