This American cyclist was rushed to the hospital after a crash during Olympic qualifiers — he was double-insured but still landed with $250K in health debt. Here’s how he beat it

A health insurance travesty, uncovered

Invited by a USA Cycling coach to try out for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Gaimon was competing at an Eastern Pennsylvania velodrome when he collided with a fellow racer, sailed over his handlebars and hit the ground — hard. Unconscious, he was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, which coincidentally was part of the health system that sponsored the cycling event.

The injuries were severe: a fractured collarbone, five broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung and a broken scapula. (In the video, Gaimon pulls up his shirt to reveal his scars and describes the lung damage as “life-threatening.”)

What’s more, the scapula break was so dangerous that for three consecutive days, surgeons who visited him declined to operate. Suffering from “crazy amounts of pain” and texting frantically for a solution, Gaimon was referred by a friend to Manhattan’s Hospital of Special Surgery and “a total badass surgeon.” It was out of his health network, but Gaimon knew he had to prove medical necessity. That proved to be much harder than ever imagined.

The surgery was successful, but months of painful recovery followed, and along the way an avalanche of medical debt hit. That he had five surgeons to vouch for the medical need didn’t help because the hospital called the surgery a voluntary outpatient procedure.

This triggered UnitedHealthcare to deny coverage. It was a case of what’s known as “balance billing,” a controversial (and now illegal) practice where out-of-network hospitals and insurance companies disagree on the price of services, leaving the patient stuck paying the difference.

Adding insult to injury, Lehigh Valley, which had failed to find him a surgeon, hit him with astronomical charges: $25,915 for a night in the intensive care unit and $29,785 for a night in the burn unit.

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Winning the race

Just as Gaimon relied on advice to locate the scapula surgeon, he enlisted help online to strategize his next moves. For example, he learned to use the phrase, “I reject the validity of this bill” in his many letters to collection agencies.

His frequent online conversations also turned into crowdsourced news leads. They caught the attention of media outlets that did some heavy lifting on his behalf, including NPR (in cooperation with KFF Health News) and CBS News.

Thousands of Americans could benefit from adopting Gaimon’s tactics. Nearly one in 12 adults (8%) owed medical debt totaling at least $220 billion as of December 2021, according to a 2024 Peterson-KFF analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

KFF research also shows six in 10 medical debtors cut spending on food, clothing and basic household items, while four in ten took on another job or worked extra hours. Now, imagine that you’re in a position like Phil Gaimon, incapacitated and on a harrowing road to recovery. Are extra hours or a second job even an option, let alone a first job?

The good news is that as of January 2022, balance billing largely became a thing of the past, thanks to the federal No Surprises Act, which protects consumers from unexpected out-of-network bills.

Meanwhile, Gaimon isn’t exactly gloating. He’s acting like an anxious racer in a photo finish waiting for the judges to declare a winner.

“I was sort of scared to say it out loud,” he said in the video, “but I do believe I've beat that debt.”