The Fineprint
About Us
Our Story & Mission Behind The Fineprint
Founding
The Fineprint
In November 2025, 3 high school students in rural Texas—Kelly Wu, Annie Sun, and Michelle Phan—came together after recognizing, through shared experiences, that financial hardship was what most often stood between families and the healthcare they needed.
Driven by each of our own individual passions for medicine, public advocacy, and finance, we founded
The Fineprint Guide to make healthcare costs more digestible, navigable, and equitable for low-income individuals and families.
The Fineprint
Our Mission
The Fineprint’s mission is to make the fine print of healthcare costs understandable and actionable for low-income communities through accessible education, practical tools, and fundraisers that support access to essential medical equipment.
In 2022, a one-day visit to the hospital in the United States averaged to be about $3,025 across states. Healthcare in America is notoriously expensive, so much so that it often becomes an issue left on the back burner because of it being ostensibly incapable of change. However, The Fineprint was created with the ideal of undertaking the seemingly impossible. We intend to aid low-income families in contending with their healthcare finances, as well as raising funds to provide necessary medical equipment or medicine to families ill-equipped to meet steep expenses. We believe in the notion that people should not have to pay to survive, that leading a healthy life should not be a luxury or purely exclusive to the fortunate. And because we hold ourselves to these truths, we aim to fortify those around us to similarly advocate for change, so that we can cultivate a world where equitable healthcare is truly treated as a human right.
The Context: Financial Strain in Healthcare
Healthcare costs in the United States are notoriously high, placing a disproportionate number of low-income individuals and families under financial strain. From rising insurance premiums and deductibles to unintelligible medical bills, the financial side of healthcare often forces people to delay care, skip prescriptions, or live with uncertainty because costs are simply unclear or unaffordable.
While financial assistance programs and nonprofit resources do exist, they can be difficult to find, understand, or access without an adequate Guide. The Fineprint Guide addresses this gap by breaking down healthcare finance, ultimately helping families navigate American healthcare effectively.
Our Values
Ethical Access
We believe that navigating healthcare finances should never come at the cost of dignity or transparency. The Fineprint Guide is committed to ethical advocacy and helping individuals understand their options, rights, and resources without exploitation or misinformation.
Clarity
Healthcare costs are often buried in confusing language, hidden fees, and unexplained policies. We value clarity over complexity. Through accessible financial guides and practical templates, we break down the Fineprint so all individuals and families can make informed decisions with confidence and control.
People First
At the heart of The Fineprint are the people we serve. Beyond education, we take action through community fundraisers that provide essential medical equipment and technologies, to low-income communities. Every initiative we run is rooted in listening, respect, and meaningful, people-centered impact.
Why “The Fineprint”?
Because the biggest barriers to healthcare are often hidden in the details — the Fineprint of bills, insurance policies, and eligibility requirements for the necessary help. We as The Fineprint Guide exist to bring those details into the light so individuals, regardless of their situation, can navigate the healthcare system with clarity rather than confusion.