Giving Compass' Take:

• Individuals are leveraging GoFundMe and other crowdfunding campaigns for relief from extremely high medical expenses.

• What are the implications of crowdfunding for medical bills for the broader healthcare system?

• Read more about how the gaps in the health system are showing up in crowdfunding. 

Individuals are increasingly turning to crowdfunding campaigns to help with the high cost of medical bills.

GoFundMe CEO Rob Solomon on Monday told CBS News that nearly 250,00 campaigns to deal with health care costs have been set up since the fundraising platform launched in 2010, raising a combined $650 million.

"We weren't ever set up to be a health care company and we still are not. But over time, people have used GoFundMe for the most important issues they are faced with."

The comments from Solomon came as part of an expansive report by CBS about how Americans have used crowdfunding to help confront skyrocketing healthcare costs.

“In the old paradigm you would give $20 to somebody who needed help,” Solomon told KHN.org. “In the new paradigm, you’ll give $20, you’ll share that and that could turn into 10, 20, 50 or 100 people doing that. So, the $20 could turn into hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.”

"Insurance may cover the medical payment side of it, but it doesn't cover you being out of work or needing transportation or lodging away from your home," he said. "So it is still a very big category in every market." Healthcare continues to be a leading issue among American voters.

Read the full article about GoFundMe campaigns for medical expenses by Justin Wise at The Hill