Despite nationwide financial hardships, just under 1 in 5 Americans said they donated to crowdfunding campaigns for medical expenses in 2020, according to research released April 1 by the non-partisan research organization NORC at the University of Chicago.
The survey garnered responses from 1,028 American adults from Dec. 17-21. Below are four notable findings:
- Eighteen percent of respondents reported donating to a crowdfunding campaign for medical expenses in the past year.
- Nearly 40 percent of respondents who donated to medical crowdfunding campaigns were from households with annual incomes less than $60,000.
- Thirty-six percent of respondents who donated to medical crowdfunding campaigns were not working due to retirement or unemployment, and 6 percent of respondents who donated to medical crowdfunding campaigns did not have medical insurance.
- Of the 61 million donations to medical crowdfunding campaigns, 17 million went to campaigns for cancer expenses, 16 million went to campaigns for accidental injury expenses, 9 million went to campaigns for heart disease expenses, 5 million went to campaigns for mental health expenses and 2 million went to campaigns for COVID-19 expenses.