Crowdfunding is being used by Indians to pay their Covid bills.

[Andrew Reeve]

During a catastrophic second Covid outbreak in India, hospitalizations skyrocketed. Astha Rajvanshi explains, Indians are turning to crowdfunding to pay for their high medical expenditures, which are being hampered by patchwork insurance.
Supraja Reddy Yeruva had trouble breathing for days after her second kid was born in June.

During her pregnancy, the 27-year-old began experiencing Covid-19 symptoms shortly after visiting a hospital for a regular check-up. She soon developed a severe lung infection and was taken to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Hyderabad, in the southern Indian state of Telangana. She's still there a month later.

Vijaya Yeruva, her husband, is now anxiously awaiting her recovery with their six-year-old daughter and newborn baby.

Mr. Yeruva is also scrambling to pay a medical cost for his wife's treatment that totals over 6 million rupees (£58,636; $80,615). And the sum is increasing by the day.

He borrowed money from the bank, utilized his health insurance, and maxed out his credit cards. The 35-year-old used Ketto, a crowdsourcing portal, to establish a fundraising after exhausted all other options.

An engineer who earns $2,960 per month on a consistent basis. Mr. Yeruva admitted that he had never considered approaching people for money. He remarked, "I worked hard to sustain my family and never begged for help." "I'm embarrassed to tell people about this fundraiser right now."

His desperation underscores the condition of tens of thousands of Indian families who are now dealing with the unintended consequences of India's terrible second Covid wave: crippling medical debt.

Source: BBC

 

 

 

[MrStretch]

It's because they don't traditionally have health insurance in India. They pay out of pocket, or they don't get treated.

And the government program to introduce health coverage was so inadequate it was invisible.

 

[gummy]

Like everybody  you have to do what ever is possible to support yourself and family in these times so very good luck to them to raise adequate funds

[AussieBob]

Sad.  And it is the same all over the world in the poorer countries.  Anyone who sees these stories and reads up on the details, and still says it is just like the seasonal flu and is all a conspiracy, is an idiot.  This is not just like a flu - it is a very very bad infection. It is caused by a virus, just like the flu is, but Ebola is also a virus. 

[kerryd]

And for every authentic crowd funding appeal, there are probably 2 dozen scam appeals trying to cash in.

There were times I wished I lived in Phuket as there always seemed to be tear-jerking story in the news about someone who had an accident or was robbed or died in Phuket and they (or their family) needed money.

But the stories were all so similar. No actual dates, no actual hospital/hotel/restaurant/bar named, fund-raisers usually started "by a friend", often asking for excess amounts, the "friend(s)" posting lots of photos of themselves at the beach or partying somewhere and almost no photos of the person they are supposedly trying to raise money for.

I really wanted to go to the hospitals to donate some flowers and such (because as I'm sure you know, the gov't hospitals don't give you much). 

(Hint - next time you click on a "GoFundMe" or similar appeal, check who started it and then check how many other GoFundMe's that person already has on the go. I've seen a couple where the organizer had 4-5 other appeals ongoing and you can be sure they weren't "friends" with all those people.)

India has almost as many recorded cases of infection as the US (31 mi India/34 mil USA) but a lot fewer deaths (422k India/616k USA). Considering how many more people India has and their much poorer health care system and such, it could be a lot worse.

Or, it could get a lot worse. One thing viruses really love is crowded, moist, warm and "dirty" environments. Like slums and overcrowded cities.

And India has plenty of those.