‘Not Sure She’s Going to Live’: Cancer Patient Tells MS NOW Congress’s Inaction on Health Care Could Cost Her Life

Congress failed to extend Obamacare subsidies before they recessed for the holidays, leaving some 20 million Americans having to make some tough choices about health care coverage for the new calendar year.

MS NOW’s Maya Eaglin told Antonia Hylton that the battle is one of life and death for Americans without employer-sponsored insurance who don’t qualify for Medicaid and Medicare.

“I’ve been speaking to folks who have had to decide which members of their family are actually going to have insurance this upcoming year,” Eaglin said, continuing:

I spoke with one woman named Joanna Scott. She was diagnosed with cancer last year. She’s living in Texas and yesterday canceled her government insurance because she said her new cost would have been more than what she makes in a month.

A clip of Scott revealed the heartbreaking reality.

“If I don’t have my insurance, I literally am going to die this year,” Scott said. “That’s the brass tacks. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to afford my medication. I won’t be able to afford my treatment. The possibility of the cancer coming back or not being completely gone is inevitable, and I won’t make it.”

Eaglin said that Scott’s immunotherapy treatment would cost $20,000 to $40,000 out of pocket each week — if she were able to pay it.

“Nobody can afford that!” Hylton exclaimed.

“Scott says she’s feeling overwhelmed and is fearful that folks like her might not be alive to see Congress actually come to a decision and a solution here,” Eaglin said.

Hylton continued, “So it’s that dire for her — If it takes them a couple months to figure out a solution, there are people who, within those weeks or months will be suffering greatly.”

Eaglin added, “One hundred percent. She is not sure she is going to live.”

Veteran pollster Frank Luntz predicted that Republicans will be trounced at the ballot box in the 2026 midterms if Congress doesn’t come to a deal as soon as they return to Capitol Hill.