After losing coverage, Dana Bango, a 55-year-old single mother living in Western North Carolina, always planned on getting insurance again. Before she could, however, the unthinkable happened. Bango was diagnosed with early-stage endometrial cancer. Thankfully, the team at Novant Health’s outpatient surgical center in Winston-Salem told her they would operate and that she could worry about the cost later.

Still, $30,000 in medical debt hangs over Bango’s head.

Financial stress and the uncertainty of living without insurance are why Bango is hoping the North Carolina General Assembly will finally expand Medicaid this year as part of the Affordable Care Act’s opt-in expansion program. [source]

Read Bango’s story here.