Casey McIntyre died from cancer on 12 November, but she devised a plan to cancel the medical debt of others as a parting gift

The New York City book publisher arranged to use money raised in her memory to buy up the medical debt of others – and then pay it off, according to a website which assisted her philanthropic effort and as of Friday had collected nearly all of her six-figure goal.

“A note to my friends: If you’re reading this, I have passed away,” read a recent post on McIntyre’s account at X – the social media platform formerly known as Twitter – which partly served to detail her campaign. “I’m so sorry. It’s horseshit and we both know it. The cause was stage four ovarian cancer.”

After describing how much she, her family and her friends loved each other, McIntyre’s account linked to her campaign at RIP Medical Debt’s website. Her accompanying farewell message added: “To celebrate my life, I’ve arranged to buy up others’ medical debt and then destroy the debt. I am so lucky to have had access to the best medical care at [the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York] and am keenly aware that so many in our country don’t have access to good care.”

  • ijeffEnglish
    11•1 year ago

    Wow. What a legacy. The idea of medical debt for necessary treatment is so wild to me though.

    • originalucifer
      17•1 year ago

      its the number 1 cause of personal bankruptcy in the united states. people go their whole lives saving, even having insurance and lose it all dying penniless.

      yay free market.

      • squiblet
        17•1 year ago

        It’s also a way that corporations aka wealthy people drain elderly people of their resources towards the end of their lives. Hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars that could have helped their children achieve some measure of financial independence instead goes to medical bills. This functions as a method of preventing generational wealth from accumulating, thus defeating class mobility.

    • FoundTheVegan
      8•1 year ago

      I envy you. My partner is still paying off the attempted life saving medical efforts from their passed previous partner. Been almost a decade but here she is, still making monthly payments.

          • TrumpetXEnglish
            -1•1 year ago

            Debt to an individual dies with that individual unless the other person cosigned or if the debt was tied to collateral. They can sue the estate, but it’s a slog to do that and basically no one will. Debt collectors will, however, claim that all of this will happen and threaten away to the point where people either get scared or tired of the harassment and give up and “make payments”. IANAL, but I went through this with my Dad when he passed. We were able to have his estate (a 5 figure sum) pass down to me without the medical debt collectors getting any of it.

            • FoundTheVegan
              5•1 year ago

              I can’t super tell if you are trying to fact check, debunk or simply trying to give more info about the topic, so forgive if this sounds curt. But I can assure that this is the situation and she spoke to lawyers trying to get it discharged. I’m not about to ask her for more details because obviously this is an emotional subject, but what I’ve already posted is my understanding of the events and timeline. Idk what else to say.

              • TrumpetXEnglish
                1•1 year ago

                Neither, just passing on my experience. I didn’t have any lawyers involved and it was pretty much telling them to fuck off and not paying the bills that came in his name.

            • girlfreddyOP
              4•1 year ago

              In America all debt does not, in fact, die with the individual. It can be passed down to spouses … which is about as fucked up as it gets.

              Here is a list of debts that can be passed down.

    • Flying Squid
      8•1 year ago

      I’ve got around $5000 of it. I wish I could have had some of it erased by this lady, but I’m glad others did.

    • girlfreddyOP
      6•1 year ago

      To me as well. I mean my nation’s is in rough shape, but at least we have universal health care.