A New York publisher is poised to have a positive impact on people she never knew.
Casey McIntyre died on Nov. 12 from ovarian cancer. She was 38 years old.
Casey's husband, Andrew Gregory, posted a message on social media from his wife after her death. It was a message of gratitude.
"I loved each and every one of you with my whole heart and I promise you, I knew how deeply I was loved," McIntyre's post said.
McIntyre thanked the staff at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she had received treatment. However, she noted that she was one of the "lucky" ones to have access to care. Following her death, McIntyre wanted to make sure others weren't stuck with the burden of medical debt.
"To celebrate my life, I've arranged to buy up others' medical debt and then destroy the debt," her post states.
A fundraiser with RIP Medical Debt was started in honor of McIntyre. The nonprofit buys millions of dollars in medical debt at a fraction of the cost.
“This means your donation relieves about 100x its value in medical debt,” the organization states on its website.
The nonprofit says that it then uses data analytics to wipe out the debt for people most in need.
As of Monday, people have donated nearly $500,000 to McIntyre's fundraiser to wipe out millions in strangers' medical debt.
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McIntyre's husband told The Associated Press that this project is extremely meaningful for his family.
“What resonated for me and Casey is, you know, there’s good cancer treatment out there that people can’t afford,” he said. “Instead of dreaming of a cure for cancer, what if we could just help people who are being crushed by medical debt?”
According to a report from KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare, approximately 16 million people in the U.S. owe over $1,000 in medical debt.
