St. Jude Hoards Billions While Many of lts Families Drain Their Savings

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St. Jude Hoards Billions While Many of lts Families
Drain Their Savings.

St. Jude Hoards Billions While Many of Its Families Drain Their Savings

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital promises not to bill families. But the cost of having a child at the hospital for cancer care leaves some families so strapped for money that parents share tips on spending nights in the parking lot.

www.propublica.org

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Richard

 

[Iggyearl]

The article seems like a bit of a "hit" job. Where in God's green earth does someone think that they should get an expense account while a family member is being treated at St. Jude's? The lesson I take from this article is that you should seek treatment at a nearby facility if you live more than 400 miles from St. Jude's.

 

[bogey21]

The article seems like a bit of a "hit" job.

Agree. Parents should be thankful for what they do which is a lot...

George

 

[tombanjo]

If it were the other way around, pro publica would write an article chastising St Jude's for paying for peoples car repairs, cell phone bills etc instead of treatments. Getting free cancer care for a sick child should not be golden ticket to all expense paid living. They do pay for one parent housing and food. I think that is reasonable. Maybe a better discussion is why sickness has to bankrupt families.

 

[SueDonJ]

The article seems like a bit of a "hit" job. Where in God's green earth does someone think that they should get an expense account while a family member is being treated at St. Jude's? The lesson I take from this article is that you should seek treatment at a nearby facility if you live more than 400 miles from St. Jude's.

While I agree with you that no one should expect an unlimited expense account while a child is being treated at St. Jude, I also agree with the article that St. Jude's fundraising efforts are misleading with respect to the financial aid that they give to the families of the children being treated. Considering that they were approached for input to this article and that they've announced increased aid to be effective this month, it appears they might agree.

It's also concerning how much of what they collect in donations is put aside in reserves, or "hoarded" as the headline suggests, especially when compared to the other top leading children's cancer research hospitals. It's no more wrong to highlight that concern for potential donors and families that need to avail themselves of the services than it would be with any other charity orgs.

 

[geist1223]

I have never heard an advertisement from St Jude that says they will pay rent, house payments, car payments, car repairs, cellular telephones, etc. Folks should be grateful they are not billed for the Medical Treatment; housing and food for the child and one parent.

 

[SueDonJ]

If it were the other way around, pro publica would write an article chastising St Jude's for paying for peoples car repairs, cell phone bills etc instead of treatments. Getting free cancer care for a sick child should not be golden ticket to all expense paid living. They do pay for one parent housing and food. I think that is reasonable. Maybe a better discussion is why sickness has to bankrupt families.

Completely agree about the added burden of sicknesses bankrupting families!

As for housing only one parent when a sick child is being treated, I'm thinking that most children would respond much better to treatment if the burden of being present and always upbeat didn't fall on only one parent's shoulders. It's not easy for either parent of a critically ill child, much more so when they're forced to separate and don't have each other near.

 

[SueDonJ]

I have never heard an advertisement from St Jude that says they will pay rent, house payments, car payments, car repairs, cellular telephones, etc. Folks should be grateful they are not billed for the Medical Treatment; housing and food for the child and one parent.

I have never heard advertisements for any of the other leading children's cancer research hospitals that take up as much airtime or extend so far outside their locations than St. Jude's ads do. I see one at least once a day, and the Dana Farber in Boston - an equally excellent facility - is less than an hour away. Maybe St. Jude's could live up to the goodwill implied in their ads if they didn't spend so much of their billions on advertising in competitors' markets.

 

[geist1223]

As for housing only one parent when a sick child is being treated, I'm thinking that most children would respond much better to treatment if the burden of being present and always upbeat didn't fall on only one parent's shoulders. It's not easy for either parent of a critically ill child, much more so when they're forced to separate and don't have each other near.

Shouldn't one parent keep working so that the family can pay rent, car payments, etc.

 

[davidvel]

Hit job is right. The headline tells you it's an opinion piece. St. Judes should pay unemployment for family members? How absurd.

Same old, same old, give me something, no that's not enough I want more, and you are evil for only giving me what you offered. Like the panhandler cursing you for only giving them the $5 you had in your pocket.

I don't see anything pointed out that was misleading,and those that donate are free to look at what their guidelines and policies are. Which is why I never donate to charities I don't know at the coffee shop, grocery store etc. By "rounding up" or whatever.

 

[SueDonJ]

Shouldn't one parent keep working so that the family can pay rent, car payments, etc.

If a family is used to paying rent, car payments, etc with the paychecks of both parents, one of them not working is going to present financial difficulties anyway.

The article outlines how St. Jude's has social workers who counsel families on where/how they can find aid that's not provided by St. Jude's so that they don't lose their homes, etc. Some have extended families who can help, and that's wonderful. So it's up to each family to decide whether they can afford in that respect to have one or both parents staying with the ill child. In cases where both could, though, only one is allowed a bed in a room with no cooking facilities and a $25/day food allowance. That's just not reasonable, IMO.

I'm not saying that St. Jude's doesn't have a very generous family outreach program. It most certainly does. But this article highlights a few negatives that I didn't know existed (despite, like I said, seeing frequent fundraising ads locally here in Boston) and they are not insignificant. I'm actually more turned off by the comparison among the top similar facilities of how much each puts towards reserves - St. Jude's puts a much higher percentage of donations into what is effectively an endowment fund. That's not a good look.

 

[davidvel]

So we posted a very expensive but used sofa sectional on FB today, for free. A nice gentleman from across the border was so grateful and appreciative, noting how much this would mean to his family back home.

He didn't ask me to deliver it to him, or to pay for his gas, truck maintenance, or time away from work. It was a good feeling to make his family's life better.

 

[controller1]

I have personal experience with friends who had a child at St. Jude. Nothing at all but praises from that family. Some people are never satisfied regardless of what they receive.

 

[controller1]

If a family is used to paying rent, car payments, etc with the paychecks of both parents, one of them not working is going to present financial difficulties anyway.

And the financial difficulties will increase if both parents are not working.

 

[geekette]

Completely agree about the added burden of sicknesses bankrupting families!

As for housing only one parent when a sick child is being treated, I'm thinking that most children would respond much better to treatment if the burden of being present and always upbeat didn't fall on only one parent's shoulders. It's not easy for either parent of a critically ill child, much more so when they're forced to separate and don't have each other near.

I think the issue is that it’s rare for both parents to stop working, or even get enough paid time off (FLMA should be available, but is unpaid). Agree that battling as a family would be preferable. I do think it’s sufficient to float one parent, as the other could likely use same bed when they can be present. Not sure how much that costs, however, as hotels want to know how many people. If it’s my hotel, I wouldn’t be charging that extra person since st j has already covered the room.

It has always been terrible that big illness usually = bk. Any expense coverage is good expense coverage.

 

[geist1223]

¿Entitlement Mentality?

 

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St. Jude Fights Donors' Families in Court
for Share of Estates

St. Jude Fights Donors’ Families in Court for Share of Estates

The high-profile children’s hospital uses donor money to engage in long and costly legal battles over wills. Here’s how St. Jude has created one of the most lucrative charitable bequest programs in the country.

www.propublica.org

Richard

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Since coverage is for only one parent why can't the parent's trade off? Seems like a good policy to me since the focus should be on the exponentially more expensive medical care for the child.

 

[amycurl]

Too bad they don't use some of those funds to advocate for universal healthcare, in the hopes that *everyone's* medical expenses would be covered by a single-payer, and they could just focus on research--rather than providing care.

Too many charities that are doing good work at curing/helping the individual in front of them--which is important--then don't take the second step of doing the systemic work to make sure that no more individuals *need* their services (at least in that form.)

Cancer services for children will always be needed; but I think it's clear that there's a better way to pay for access to that care, long-term. I just think they're missing a big opportunity by not spending some of the kick-off from their endowment on that.

 

[ScoopKona]

Add to Amy's thoughtful comment: Don't trust ANY charity that spends a great deal on television advertising.

Whenever I see ads for St. Jude's, the Ronald McDonald House, Save the Children, PETA and similar, I know where their money is going -- at some point it ceases to be a charity and becomes a circular fundraising scheme. (Spend money to ask for money to spend more money to ask for more money.)

I don't care how much good work these groups do, if they're behaving like TV preachers.

 

[amycurl]

One note about the Ronald McDonald Houses: the local houses are all independent 501(c)3s, and they don't have any control over national budgets or advertising. They also get something less than 10% of their budget from the national charity. It's a surprisingly small amount. Nor do they pay for most of the advertising you might see for a local house (local advertising is usually donated or subsidized by sponsors specifically for that purpose.) Definitely support your local Ronald McDonald House--they, too, do great work that is unique (i.e. no else locally is typically providing that service)--but do so by directly donating to the local house. Most of McDonald's support to local houses comes in the form of dedicated fundraisers held by local franchisees, and marketing/volunteer support from those same franchisees. The heightened awareness of the "national brand" is a bit of a two-edged sword for them.

 

[HitchHiker71]

I've been a long term contributor to St Jude for many years now. The 20% reserve fund is a long term strategic investment to build up an endowment over roughly a 10-20 year time period to become self-sustaining - much like several Ivy league schools have done over the past 20-30 years which now can fully fund tuition, room and board for all need based scholarships solely from the investment proceeds of the endowment itself. It's an extremely wise long term approach to solving funding problems for any institution - including medical care institutions like St. Jude. Of course if there's corruption or any fraud involved then these things need to be rooted out and eliminated - but AFAIK that's not at issue. On the other hand - having 30% go toward admin expenses and fundraising expenses is pretty steep compared to most other charitable organizations - television advertising isn't cheap and it shows up in their high admin expense ratios without a doubt.

 

[geist1223]

Sorry we are against Universal Single Payor Health Care. Our Federal Government is already highly in debt. We do not need to add Trillions more.

 

[PigsDad]

Silly me, I thought political garbage wasn't allowed on these boards.

Kurt

 

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St. Jude Stashed Away $886 Million in Unspent Revenue Last Year

St. Jude Stashed Away $886 Million in Unspent Revenue Last Year

New documents show that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s reserves grew to $7.6 billion, as other children's cancer nonprofits struggled to raise cash.

www.propublica.org

Richard