U.S. rugby sevens player Ariana Ramsey will leave Paris with more than just a bronze medal. After discovering that the Olympic Village offers athletes not only free food but a range of free healthcare options, she will go home after getting a Pap smear and a free eye and dental exam. She even snagged a pair of free glasses. To quote her now-viral TikTok video: “How, What?”
According to Sports Illustrated, the Olympic Village – where athletes will stay during the Games – has been offering free medical care since 1932. SI also reported that the village offers cardiology, orthopedics, physical therapy, psychology and podiatry. Dermatology will also be offered to the Paralympic athletes arriving next week.
In the U.S., health care is covered by private insurance, which often requires customers to pay out of pocket until they reach a deductible. Then there are copayments and co-payments, with additional fees if a doctor is out of network. These costs often make even basic health services like gynecological exams prohibitively expensive for many Americans, and Ramsey has spent the last week chronicling her experiences with free health care on TikTok.
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“America needs to improve its health care system because there is no way that I, as an American girl, should be so amazed by free health care,” she said.
Ramsey, who made history in Paris when her team won the first Olympic medal in rugby sevens for the U.S., is also a certified personal trainer. Her excitement about the free treatment and the ease with which it is being doled out has sparked heated debate on her social media, with some saying it isn’t “free” since someone else is paying for it, and others calling it “just plain embarrassing” for the U.S.
According to recently released federal data, healthcare costs in the United States are expected to reach $4.8 trillion in 2023, exceeding the country’s GDP. On a per capita basis, these costs are an estimated $14,423 in 2023 and are expected to rise to $15,074 by 2024. In France, the host country of the 2024 Games, this amount was estimated to be $5,740 per capita in 2020.
By the end of the Paralympics in September, more than 22,000 athletes will have stayed at the Olympic Village, many of them taking advantage of the free care. Since creating her first TikTok to raise awareness of the Olympic Village polyclinic, she has been thanked by healthcare workers for her positive message and recognized on the street. The experience has sparked a new passion in her.
“I’m officially a free health care advocate,” Ramsey said after a dentist appointment. “This will be my new fight for free health care in America. Period.”
Ramsey began playing rugby in high school, where she also excelled in track, wrestling, and field hockey. She continued playing rugby in college at Dartmouth, where she was co-captain. She also represented the United States at the Tokyo Olympics, where her team reached the quarterfinals.
