When it comes to supporting her family or taking medication to treat her metastatic breast cancer, T’Ana Johnson forgoes her medication to keep her head above water.
“I’m unable to afford my medication, and I have had to stop taking it,” T’Ana said.
Despite working two jobs and previously taking out a loan to afford her medication, T’Ana, a mother of two, eventually stopped her treatment to avoid sliding into more debt.
Nobody should be in this situation. Yet under current law, T’Ana and many individuals living with metastatic breast cancer must wait for more than two years for the Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and Medicare they paid for through employment taxes– forcing them to make impossible choices and preventing them from getting the care they need.
T’Ana’s story exemplifies why it’s more urgent than ever to pass the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act, a bill that would eliminate these cruel and arbitrary waiting periods for individuals who need access to the benefits they earned and desperately need. Congress has the power to move this bill forward, and that’s why NBCC launched a campaign to make it happen this summer.
“They’re asking people to wait [for benefits], and during my period of wait, I can’t even afford the medicine,” T’Ana said. “So how would I even make it to get my Medicare?”
As a registered nurse, T’Ana used to wonder why patients wouldn’t comply with treatment plans, but with the financial burdens she’s dealt with, she understands.
“I’m always going to choose providing for my children before depleting my funds to afford medication,” T’Ana said. “I don’t want to lose my home. I’m getting further in debt, and that’s where a lot of people like me are.”
Now an NBCC advocate and Project LEAD graduate, T’Ana has been using her story as a patient advocate to help those living with metastatic breast cancer. She attended NBCC’s Summit Lobby Day, and plans to attend our upcoming Lobby Day on June 23 to ask Congress: What are you waiting for?
“NBCC is such a powerhouse, and what they do is equip advocates to feel empowered,” T’Ana said. “Within my struggle, I felt helpless. I was becoming weary. You feel like you’re fighting by yourself, but once I told my story, it lifted a weight off me. Had I not stood up, had I not said a word, I’d still be suffering in silence. More people need that opportunity to have a voice.”
T’Ana feels both empowered and frustrated asking lawmakers to do the right thing, but she encourages other advocates to use their voices to pass this crucial legislation.
“At first I was nervous, but I don’t have to be nervous about wanting to end cancer and stand up for not only myself, but everyone else,” she said. “I felt like I was pleading for my life, but I am proud of what NBCC is doing, and I was proud to have my children [at Summit and Lobby Day]. We need to pass this bill because we’re dying now. It can’t wait. There are too many people dying waiting.”
Join advocates like T’Ana and urge Congress to pass the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act now.
