Mary Lou Retton Fighting for Her Life in ICU

[Dan Murphy]

collabs

What are "collabs"?

 

[mjkacmom]

Why do you think they'd resort to begging strangers on the Internet for money if they knew the money's there? To "help out?" Um, OK.

They’re not strangers, they are followers, this generation doesn’t think of them as strangers. I recently saw a go fund me request on nextdoor for a penile enhancement, I’m more likely to donate to someone on life support who’s children I follow on Instagram than a stranger wanting a bigger… However, I don’t follow any of them, not my circus, not my monkeys. I do donate to my kids’ friends’ online fundraisers.

 

[mjkacmom]

Why do you think they'd resort to begging strangers on the Internet for money if they knew the money's there? To "help out?" Um, OK.

Because they want to do something helpful for their mother and don’t know if she has enough $ to cover medical expenses?

 

[soccerdad72]

Her anti-insurance stances (and lobbying!) have been reported in the past. She willingly chose not to insure herself, and now we're being asked to donate to her to help pay her bills, when, it's assumed, she has the means to pay. I think the daughters are seeing their inheritances flying out the window and into the pockets of the hospital.

Well, fortunately you have the ability to ignore the request for money and don't have to pay for her bills.

 

[mjkacmom]

Well, fortunately you have the ability to ignore the request for money and don't have to pay for her bills.

I assumed that poster must’ve been one of their followers.

 

[Sanchez]

Hush! How dare you! She can't breathe on her own. We can't be saying Bad Things about her and her life choices. [/sarcasm]

All of us, at least those who actually pay taxes, pay for a lot of fraud, laziness and general stupidity that we don’t like. Your position on this, as well as your callousness, is well documented. How about sit this one out Champ?

 

[leeniewdw]

What are "collabs"?

It’s short for Collaborations. Meaning she partners with companies to sell their products. Depending on the “influencer” and how forthright they are with their disclosures, it could mean getting paid for a post, having an affiliate link where they get commissions for someone who clicks thru their link or uses their “code”, it could mean they just got free stuff to “review” or were “hosted” somewhere for a free stay and a post. Let me go look at one, one of them has it listed in their Instagram story highlights as “collabs” (which is why I used that word).

Edit: she had some discount codes for beauty stuff and similar things as well as a planner. So she probably gets commissions for sales that use her codes.

 

[Dan Murphy]

It’s short for Collaborations.

I see, thanks. Was not aware of that current shortening of a word. Thanks again.

 

[gmi3804]

Well, fortunately you have the ability to ignore the request for money and don't have to pay for her bills.

The thing is, you and I are going to be paying her bills when she defaults on her payments, unless the collector goes after her (or her estate, if she doesn't make it through this).

 

[gmi3804]

All of us, at least those who actually pay taxes, pay for a lot of fraud, laziness and general stupidity that we don’t like. Your position on this, as well as your callousness, is well documented. How about sit this one out Champ?

No thanks.

I suppose the difference between you and me might be that what you call "laziness" I call genuine need, deserving of help. I can't imagine you don't see the difference between those people and the stupid grifter-types who have the means and beg strangers (oops, sorry; "followers") for money.

 

[barkley]

it would be odd if the kids knew everything about mom’s financials.

i have to imagine that mlr has a buisness manager that could provide information to whomever is handling her affairs while she is incapacitated. the divorce occured 5 years ago and granted, things can change financialy over that period of time but i would think her ex husband/girl's dad would have some idea of where she stood financialy at THAT point in time to guide

Because they want to do something helpful for their mother and don’t know if she has enough $ to cover medical expenses?

i think it's distasteful to some that it was the immediate means by which the public became aware of her medical situation. on a personal basis i've never known anyone in an emergent hospitalization situation to have the hospital immediatly demanding payment from patient/immediate family. depending on her financial situation (some reports say all her net worth may be in the form of her home) she may be eligible to some forms of financial assistance (crazy, i know, but i granted cases of medicaid back in the 90's with 7 figure valued homes b/c of assett exemption rules that have only increased over the years). i don't think it was necessary to immediatly start asking for funds.

question in my mind is-now that it's raised just shy of $440,000, if there's excess after the bills are paid will they donate it to charity?

 

[leeniewdw]

Her anti-insurance stances (and lobbying!) have been reported in the past. She willingly chose not to insure herself, and now we're being asked to donate to her to help pay her bills, when, it's assumed, she has the means to pay. I think the daughters are seeing their inheritances flying out the window and into the pockets of the hospital.

I've seen posts about her stance being 'anti-insurance' but is it possible it's getting conflated with something else she was against? Perhaps it was the ACA itself?

It seems nearly impossible for someone who gave birth to 4 humans and had a first career as an athlete, then raised 4 kids who competed in sports that were high probability for injury would be "anti insurance" because they UNDOUBTEDLY used insurance many many times for her or her kids.

I get that with a divorce (though that's a number of years ago) things can change significantly in the financial landscape, but this is someone who has to have had so many more resources (finance, advice, support, planning, etc) over her adult life than the vast majority of people.

Admittedly, I'm fascinated to learn how she landed here. Perhaps she can get paid to do an interview after she's recovered and make some money AND do a public service to advise against this very situation.

 

[leeniewdw]

i have to imagine that mlr has a buisness manager that could provide information to whomever is handling her affairs while she is incapacitated. the divorce occured 5 years ago and granted, things can change financialy over that period of time but i would think her ex husband/girl's dad would have some idea of where she stood financialy at THAT point in time to guide




i think it's distasteful to some that it was the immediate means by which the public became aware of her medical situation. on a personal basis i've never known anyone in an emergent hospitalization situation to have the hospital immediatly demanding payment from patient/immediate family. depending on her financial situation (some reports say all her net worth may be in the form of her home) she may be eligible to some forms of financial assistance (crazy, i know, but i granted cases of medicaid back in the 90's with 7 figure valued homes b/c of assett exemption rules that have only increased over the years). i don't think it was necessary to immediatly start asking for funds.

question in my mind is-now that it's raised just shy of $440,000, if there's excess after the bills are paid will they donate it to charity?

I admit that I don’t know the legalities of all the fundraising sites, but wouldn’t that have to be disclosed as part of the fundraiser? It’s one thing to donate to a specific financial ‘need’, but if you haven’t agreed to your dollars going to ______, that seems like a break in the agreement.

I mean, if we’re being cynical, if she gets her hospital bills paid for by various means (her own personal resources, plus relief from other sources like the US Olympic group, the fundraiser), and then donates 50k to a charity…does she get the tax deduction? It’s also possible that these funds would go towards “loss of income” if she had lost earnings, etc.

That’s why I surely hope the girls are being guided by someone with the kind of knowledge that a complex situation requires.

I’ll say this, I took a look at some of the larger donations (not the huge ones) and recognize at least one name who surely knows MLR (or people in her world) better than anyone here. Makes me wonder if in her circles her true financial status is is known and bleak. Then again, if I’m being a cynic, why do so many people publicly donate, rather than choosing “anonymous”. I almost always choose anonymous even when I’m donating $20 to a total stranger and I’m an absolute nobody.

 

[DCLMP]

Good news!

It's good to hear she is doing better. This is a life we're talking about and I for one value life. Any financial issues or bankruptcies will be sorted out in due time.

 

[DCLMP]

No thanks.

I suppose the difference between you and me might be that what you call "laziness" I call genuine need, deserving of help. I can't imagine you don't see the difference between those people and the stupid grifter-types who have the means and beg strangers (oops, sorry; "followers") for money.

Who peed in your Cheerios? Of all the things to get worked up about you choose this.

 

[greeneyedchick]

i have to imagine that mlr has a buisness manager that could provide information to whomever is handling her affairs while she is incapacitated. the divorce occured 5 years ago and granted, things can change financialy over that period of time but i would think her ex husband/girl's dad would have some idea of where she stood financialy at THAT point in time to guide




i think it's distasteful to some that it was the immediate means by which the public became aware of her medical situation. on a personal basis i've never known anyone in an emergent hospitalization situation to have the hospital immediatly demanding payment from patient/immediate family. depending on her financial situation (some reports say all her net worth may be in the form of her home) she may be eligible to some forms of financial assistance (crazy, i know, but i granted cases of medicaid back in the 90's with 7 figure valued homes b/c of assett exemption rules that have only increased over the years). i don't think it was necessary to immediatly start asking for funds.

question in my mind is-now that it's raised just shy of $440,000, if there's excess after the bills are paid will they donate it to charity?

The hospital may be asking for payment out front since she is uninsured.

 

[barkley]

The hospital may be asking for payment out front since she is uninsured.

in my experience a hospital will first assist a patient ( or their representative) in exhausting all avenues of outside payment sources the individual may be eligible to. i recently assisted a family member with insurance who was doing a pre-op appointment at the hospital. despite their insurance being very generous such that there would be what i perceived as very minimal co-pays and share of costs on the patient's part the hospital's finanacil division (required of all pre-op patients to meet with, emergency admissions were done at bed-side or with reps/family members) cautioned the patient not pay anything out of pocket until the hosptial fully researched any and all available coverage, private or public programs that might reduce the patient's out of pocket share. what REALLY amazed me was that the family member WAS found eligible to a program the hospital administered for which absolutly no consideration was given to one's assetts liquid or otherwise. if mlr has sporadic earnings from personal appearance and such despite the fees being nothing to look down on they might not be looked at as regular, cosistent and reliable income which drives many private and public free healthcare assistance programs.

 

[DCLMP]

The hospital may be asking for payment out front since she is uninsured.

Hospitals don’t do this. Not in this country. Not if it’s emergent.

 

[Chili327]

Even if a person has insurance copays and deductibles can be untenable, I think healthcare is still the major cause of bankruptcy in the US.

Marketplace didn't turn out to be the panacea it was supposed to be, remember how we were all going to be saved? Seems we are not saved and now thousands of businesses with little oversight and no accountability have access to the most intimate data on Americans. Sounds on brand, almost as if our data is valuable, nahhh no-one wants that silly thought.

Indeed it is… I believe the #1 cause.

We don’t have healthcare, we have memberships for big pharma.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

I for one am grateful for ACA. After my husband retired last year and went on Medicare I had to find affordable health care for myself as I am 7 years younger and unemployed. I have a good plan, just about the same as the premium Anthem one we had when he was still working and it only costs me $22.66 a month. They accept the doctors I see and any hospitals that I would ever need to go to. My husband is healthy and our agent recommended an Advantage Plan for him that is awesome and only costs him $19 a month.