An online fundraiser for Don Johnson, an 81-year-old Texan delivering lost luggage 12 to 14 hours a day to help pay for his wife Josephine’s pancreatic cancer care, has raised more than $730,000. He says he may now be able to stop working and focus on her care.
Erin Howell, whose doorbell camera recorded Johnson carrying luggage up her stairs, went outside to help him and launched the GoFundMe, titled “Help Don Retire.” More than 13,000 donors contributed. Johnson told NBC News insurance did not cover all the costs; he and Josephine said they were surprised and grateful for the support.
Traditional Medicare has no annual cap on out-of-pocket costs. A KFF analysis estimated that 3.5 million beneficiaries had no supplemental health insurance—6% of all Medicare beneficiaries and 13% of those in traditional Medicare. An Indiana University analysis put the average direct medical cost per pancreatic cancer patient at $177,691 in 2025. Medicare Part D out-of-pocket costs are capped at $2,100 in 2026 for prescription drugs, but that cap does not cover broader cancer-care costs.
