Introduction
Medical and financial hardships go hand-in-hand for many Americans. Approximately one-third of working-age adults recently surveyed reported that health care costs made it harder to afford household bills, food, and housing. Some turn to online crowdfunding platforms, such as GoFundMe, to levy support for themselves or another when facing financial strains. In the words of health reporter Elisabeth Rosenthal, GoFundMe is becoming “normalized as part of the health system” whereby some “patient advocates and hospital financial-aid officers recommend crowdfunding as an alternative to being sent to collections.”
Prior studies have evaluated GoFundMe campaigns, focusing on specific health conditions, fundraising goals, and disparities in campaign outcomes. Our study builds on this literature by assessing correspondence between medical conditions and financial needs described in campaigns. Evaluation of the cross-sections of medical conditions and financial needs demonstrates needs of people living with specific health conditions and highlights potential opportunities to bolster the social safety net and insurance.
The full study can be viewed at Health Affairs Scholar.
Duffy, E. L., Randall, S., Raghu, S., Wong, N., Nguyen, N. L., & Trish, E. (2025). Insights from crowdfunding campaigns for medical hardship. Health Affairs Scholar, 3(5), qxaf085.
