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AP profiles Texas cancer patient facing medical bills before midterms
The Associated Press reported Sunday that a McAllen, Texas, breast-cancer patient with more than $25,000 in medical debt recast her Senate vote around costs, according to a Jesse Bedayn feature (AP, via local outlets).
Wire reporting: (AP, via ClickOnDetroit)
The Associated Press reported Sunday, in a Jesse Bedayn feature carried by local outlets, that Cindy Banda, a 46-year-old McAllen, Texas, internet-service salesperson and single parent, has been paying more than $25,000 after breast-cancer surgery, chemotherapy and radiation even with job-based insurance.
AP said Banda, who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024, told the news service she had recast her U.S. Senate choice around medical and household costs and had cast an early ballot for Democrat James Talarico rather than Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
According to the same AP account, Talarico supports letting all Americans join Medicare; Paxton has proposed a $25,000 tax deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses. AP cited a September Fox News poll in which about half of registered voters called health-care costs a major problem for their families, and an AP-NORC poll in which registered voters were nearly twice as likely to say they trust Democrats over Republicans to handle health care.
AP said Banda’s reconstruction could be delayed so she would not restart a $7,500 deductible in January, that a new cancer-targeting drug listed at $16,000 a month was reduced to $500 with insurance, and that she expected a scan result on Election Day. Independent confirmation of her bills, insurance terms or scan timing is not in this wire package.
Not medical advice.
