Marshall Allen’s Widow Carries His Mantle in Crusade to End Fraud, Waste and Abuse

About three months before Marshall Allen unexpectedly passed away, he was given a clean bill of health. The prominent health care journalist and author was vibrant and energetic. There was no indication that a massive heart attack would claim his life at the age of 52 on May 19, 2024. No symptoms. No family history. No misdiagnosis. No medical incompetence. 

Ultimately, there was no ironic ending for this widely respected – and much beloved – crusader against medical fraud, waste and abuse, as well as mounting medical debt in this country. Allen’s groundbreaking investigative reporting for ProPublica and the Las Vegas Sun made him a Pulitzer Prize finalist, while his seminal book, “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win,” is a book everyone should read. He was as knowledgeable about the perversity and unfairness of the U.S. health care system as anyone, but in the end powerless to prevent the so-called widow maker condition that his wife Sonja said robbed her and their three sons of more time with him.

In the aftermath of her family’s terrible loss, Sonja is preserving Marshall’s legacy. One such example is the Marshall Allen Project, which seeks to help alleviate the medical debt burden facing millions of Americans. The following interview has been edited for clarity and space.

What was your reaction to the public outpouring of grief and support for your family after your husband’s passing, as well as the many fitting tributes that were paid to him?

ALLEN: I knew that he was very influential in the work that he was doing, and that people appreciated him. But I think you don’t fully know until someone passes away what people genuinely think about the person, and so it’s been a huge gift to me. It’s been just really sweet for me to hear people’s stories of him, their remembrances, what he meant to them. It’s a blessing and reinforcement of the fact that he was an incredible man. He wanted to help people navigate health care. He wanted to help people with their medical bills. He wanted to fight for justice in our health care system. He wanted to change health care in America, and I think that’s part of the impetus for me to continue to carry out his vision.

How would you describe his enormous influence, including how his investigative reporting and book helped empower patients  and challenge Big Insurance?

ALLEN: Marshall’s identity was in his relationship with God, and so I think because of that he was dedicated to doing the right thing. And that lent itself to him really being very unafraid to stand up to people or institutions who were doing the wrong thing. It’s freeing to have the information that you need to end unjust and unfair billing practices in hospitals or insurance companies. People appreciated his boldness, and a lot of his articles led to laws being changed.

Tell us about the Allen Health Academy and Marshall Allen Project, including the AI Marshall Allen Clone and your role in preserving his important legacy.

ALLEN: The Allen Health Academy is our for-profit organization with a video curriculum. The purpose is to educate, equip and empower people to understand health care and apply his principles to fight their bills. Probably a month before Marshall died, he found this artificial intelligence clone tool where he inputted about 475 articles, podcasts, speaking notes, his entire book, his video curriculum. Then he honed it, asked it questions and make sure the answers were accurate. It speaks 150 languages. He even recorded his voice so you can talk to it and it can talk back to you. It will give people some guidance and direction on how to fight their medical bills and also has email templates, websites and other resources to look up prices, fight an insurance claim denial and have this trail of communication when you’re trying to navigate your bills. He got such a kick out of it. The capabilities of this tool are huge. We created the Marshall Allen Project as a foundation to make this clone available for free to people who are fighting their medical bills and give it away as a resource. We’re in the process of building out a website and receive funding so that we can continue to create other resources. One of the things we want to do is have patient advocates who are trained and understand Marshall’s information and can help them walk through some of their information. We’re trying to start a movement to take this to the next level.

How can the work you do be used to help educate the millions of working Americans who get their health insurance from work and guide employers that provide their coverage?

ALLEN: The video curriculum that Marshall created was based off of his book. It takes the information and it breaks it into 16 videos, approximately five minutes apiece. There are thousands of people who have read Marshall’s book or listened to his curriculum, took the information, applied it to their personal health care situation and have been victorious. He has written about a lot of these stories in his newsletter. It’s information that works and saves companies a ton of money. It has a huge impact for employers if they educate their employees on the benefits that they’re providing. It is a win for everybody. Marshall’s curriculum has also been accepted as continuing education credits by the Society for Human Resource Management and National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals.

Any parting thoughts on what made Marshall so extraordinary and how are you and your three sons, Isaac, Ashton and Cody, are faring these days?

ALLEN: Marshall was extraordinary. He was one of a kind and uniquely gifted to do this work. He was a journalist at heart, and God enabled him to understand and to know truth, stand up for justice and defend those who are powerless to defend themselves. He used that knowledge and ability to make a difference. I feel like all of our sons have been uniquely motivated by their dad, particularly after his death, to say, “I want to live my life in a way that makes a difference.” It’s about really loving and serving people. Marshall was not only an amazing journalist and health care advocate. He was an incredible dad. He was so fun, creative, engaged and intentional with the boys.

Bruce Shutan is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance journalist who has written about employer-provided group health benefits for 36 years. He is the former managing editor of Employee Benefit News and a regular contributor to The Self-Insurer magazine, published by the Self-Insurance Institute of America.