Mary Lou Retton Doesn't Have Insurance, and People Are Furious About It

It's possible that Mary Lou Retton doesn't have medical insurance thru a single employer, and neglected to shop for a plan herself at the open marketplace.

The Gist:

• Former Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton was once hospitalized in early October 2023 for a unprecedented form of pneumonia.
• At the time, Mary Lou's daughter disclosed that she used to be uninsured, and asked for donations to fortify her mother's treatment.
• Many have been outraged by way of the inside track that it used to be imaginable for this sort of top profile athlete to be uninsured.

Following the inside track that USA gymnast and all-around gold medal winner Mary Lou Retton was in the sanatorium battling for her lifestyles, many naturally sought after to learn up to possible about Mary Lou's scenario. Mary Lou used to be one of the vital most famous athletes in America following her victory within the 1984 Olympic Games. In early October 2023, her daughter says used to be hospitalized in the ICU, struggling with for her lifestyles towards a unprecedented form of pneumonia.

While those instances are devastating enough all on their very own, they have been made much more tragic via the scoop that Mary Lou is uninsured. A crowdfunding campaign was once started to lift money for her treatment, but many nonetheless puzzled how a massively a hit athlete like Mary Lou might be uninsured. Here's what we know.

Why does Mary Lou Retton now not have medical health insurance?

In a put up at the crowdfunding web site Spotfund the place cash is being raised for Mary Lou's treatment, her daughter McKenna Kelly wrote that her mom's state of affairs used to be dire. "My amazing mom, Mary Lou, has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life. She is not able to breathe on her own. She’s been in the ICU for over a week now," the submit mentioned.

It used to be unclear the place Mary Lou was once being handled, however she currently lives in Houston, Tex. Thankfully, the former gymnast was in a position to go back house on the finish of October. In a Nov. 23, 2023 Instagram submit, Mary Lou expressed how thankful she was "to be home with [her] girls," and additionally mentioned that she was still slowly recuperating.

McKenna mentioned that she had left the cases of her mother's remedy vague out of respect for her privateness, however added that her mom was uninsured.

"ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom. Thank y’all so very much!" McKenna concluded. The Spotfound opened with a function of raising $50,000, however has since raised greater than $459,000 on the time of writing.

As for why Mary Lou is uninsured, the exact reasons are unclear. Mary Lou has persisted to work in endorsement offers, together with some for drugstore chains. It's conceivable, then, that Mary Lou is uninsured because whilst she collects fees from the work that she does as an analyst and through endorsement offers, she doesn't have medical insurance via a unmarried employer, and omitted to shop for a plan herself at the open market.

Fans are outraged that Mary Lou Retton is uninsured.

Whatever the precise causes could also be, many that liked Mary Lou when she competed had been outraged to discover that she used to be uninsured.

"No human in America shouldn’t have healthcare. Famous or not. The supposedly richest country in the world and many citizens are in her shoes every day. It’s inhumane," one person wrote.

Thankfully, Mary Lou has likely raised sufficient money to cover her scientific costs, however as those posts indicate, there are hundreds of people who cannot raise that kind of money.

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