GoFundMe for diabetes-related expenses, like alert dogs and shoes

According to a new report from Duke Health researchers, only 6% of diabetic funders seek help paying for insulin, and many seek funding for diabetes alert dogs or unexpected expenses related to their medical care. .

For their study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, they analyzed a sample of active crowdfunding campaigns on GoFundMe based in the United States. About 1% of the 89,645 campaigns that were drawn at random of the site were fundraising for someone with diabetes. The results of the analysis are based on 350 campaigns randomly selected from this group.

According to lead author Caroline Sloan, MD, MPH, a general internist at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, people who fund diabetes are driven by expenses that aren’t often discussed in the political world. .

A publication quoted by the report estimates that people with diabetes spend about $4,800 a year in additional costs associated with the disease, even if they are insured.

Among the campaigns, Sloan found that people needed funds for syringes, alcohol swabs, food, special shoes that protect feet from infectious injuries, hotel rooms near hospitals, and even money for a personal trainer to control their type 2 diabetes.

“I wanted to show the world that people are struggling to pay for all kinds of aspects of diabetes care,” she said. She drew inspiration for the research from her own experience as a clinician serving a low-income, high-need population.

The price of insulin was capped at $35 per month for Medicare patients under the Cut Inflation Act, signed into law by the Biden administration in August 2022. However, only 6% of campaigns sampled in the new report were asking for funds for insulin.

“Maybe now is the time to start thinking about cutting other costs,” Sloan said.

Researchers found that a quarter of funders had insurance, but about half said their out-of-pocket expenses remained too high. Most campaigns were not fully funded, with only around 14% reaching their goal. Previous search showed that people raising money for insulin on GoFundMe have also failed, with only 10% of campaigns receiving full funding.

The median fundraising goal was $10,000, with a median of $2,600 raised in the sample.

About one-fifth of the campaigns analyzed requested funds for a diabetic alert dog, a service animal trained to alert owners during a hypo or hyperglycemic episode, primarily for people with type 1 diabetes. Sloan and his colleagues colleagues call the dogs an “unproven treatment”. However, there is evidence suggesting that dogs are able to detect hypoglycemic episodes up to 83% of the time.

A trained dog can cost between $8,000 and $15,000, according to the association Beyond type 1. In the report, the authors note, “Clinicians who learn of a patient’s intention to purchase a dog could redirect them to proven management strategies, such as continuous blood glucose monitors.”

The group of patients included in this analysis is not necessarily representative of the financially challenged population seeking support for diabetes care. The authors note that age and internet access are a limitation for some groups when accessing crowdfunding sites.

“It’s a small group of patients and it’s just people who have been crowdfunding,” Sloan said. “The next step is to try to quantify the different types of costs that we found in GoFundMe campaigns, but in a larger, more representative population.”

Authors did not report any relevant financial relationships.

Ann Intern Med. Published online June 12, 2023.

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