@inproceedings{6b2d3f691296430a9794cde280283495,
title = "Reducing medical bankruptcy through crowdfunding: Evidence from giveforward",
abstract = "An estimated 62% of individual bankruptcy filings in the United States were a direct result of costs borne from medical treatment following illness or injury. We consider the potential of online crowdfunding to alleviate the issue, wherein patients reach out to their social network for monetary support to help cover medical bills. We examine the effect of medical crowdfunding using proprietary data from one of the largest medical crowdfunding platforms, GiveForward.com, combined with state records of bankruptcy filing. Controlling for a variety of socioeconomic indicators, we find evidence that fundraising helped prevent between 114 and 136 bankruptcies across the US, per quarter, representing 3.9 percent of all medical related bankruptcies. Further, we explore the relationship between crowdfunding and public health insurance, finding evidence of a substitution effect when health insurance coverage is high. We discuss the implications of our findings for healthcare policy and crowdfunding.",
keywords = "Bankruptcy, Crowdfunding, Medical insurance, Policy, Public health",
author = "Gordon Burtch and Jason Chan",
year = "2014",
language = "English (US)",
isbn = "9781634396943",
series = "35th International Conference on Information Systems {"}Building a Better World Through Information Systems{"}, ICIS 2014",
publisher = "Association for Information Systems",
booktitle = "35th International Conference on Information Systems {"}Building a Better World Through Information Systems{"}, ICIS 2014",
note = "35th International Conference on Information Systems: Building a Better World Through Information Systems, ICIS 2014 ; Conference date: 14-12-2014 Through 17-12-2014",
}