'I'll Be Dead in November:' Uninsured Trump Voter With Cancer Now Eyeing Candidates Fighting for Healthcare

A Walmart worker in rural Florida sat on hold with 17 callers ahead of him, trying to get health insurance, and said the wait could cost him his life.

Michael Depew appears in a More Perfect Union video filmed in Putnam County, where Donald Trump won nearly 74 per cent of the vote.

A clip shared on X describes a 28-year-old Trump voter with testicular cancer who needs chemotherapy he cannot afford. He says he is now open to voting for politicians who back universal healthcare.

Seventeen Callers Ahead of Him

The video, released by the progressive outlet More Perfect Union on 28 October 2026, opens in a county that More Perfect Union says has the worst health score in the state, where about one in five people live in poverty, thousands are uninsured and doctors are few and far between, according to its transcript.

'It's also a county that voted heavily for Trump every time he was on the ballot,' reporter Natasha Del Toro says in the film. 'And since those elections, getting care has only become more challenging.'

Depew, identified as a part-time Walmart employee, is shown calling to enrol in insurance. 'There are 17 callers ahead of you,' an automated voice tells him.

'Right now, just to get enrolled in the insurance, I have to wait, and if I'm not mistaken, I'll be dead in November,' he says.

Another patient at Putnam Hospital, identified only as Malcom, put it bluntly. 'We are in a state of emergency. We're Americans. We're supposed to be free, and we're not.'

Post Says Doctor Gave Him Three Months

A clip from the video shared on X by the user Reggie B. sets out the stakes. 'They are begging for help,' the post says of the Trump voters the outlet met. The post says the 28-year-old man in the clip has testicular cancer and needs chemotherapy immediately to survive, according to the post.

According to the post, his doctor gave him three months to live unless he receives treatment straight away. The post puts the cost of treatment at more than £37,500 ($50,000) and says he has no health insurance.

He is hoping Medicaid will come through. But Florida has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and as the post notes, many low-income adults without children in the state do not qualify.

'Everybody having health insurance will be absolutely amazing,' he says in the clip. According to the post, he voted for Trump but is now open to voting for politicians who are fighting for universal health insurance. The post had been viewed almost 120,000 times at the time of writing.

Florida Reports the Largest Loss of ACA Coverage

Nearly 450,000 people in Florida lost their Affordable Care Act coverage this year, more than in any other state, according to More Perfect Union.

The enhanced ACA premium tax credits, which had made marketplace plans cheaper for millions, expired at the end of last year, Central Florida Public Media reported. Nationally, ACA plan costs rose 20 per cent in January.

Florida had been the largest buyer of marketplace coverage. Its enrolment grew by 134 per cent between 2020 and 2024, compared with 106 per cent nationally, according to KFF figures cited by the station.

Nationwide, 26.7 million Americans were uninsured in 2024, a KFF study found, the first increase since 2019. An earlier KFF study found that 41 per cent of Americans had medical debt. 'I just want to survive,' one Florida voter, Corin Denmon, told the station.

Healthcare Takes Centre Stage in Senate Race

More Perfect Union travelled to Putnam County with Angie Nixon, a Democratic state representative who is challenging Republican Senator Ashley Moody for her US Senate seat. Nixon pitched Medicare for All to Trump voters in the county.

Nixon won the Democratic primary in August against Alex Vindman, leading with 55.4 per cent when the race was called, WCTV reported. She has campaigned on lower costs, higher wages and Medicare for All, calling her bid 'a 100% grassroots campaign powered by people like you'.

'Right now, people are going bankrupt. People are dying because they cannot afford healthcare,' Nixon told Central Florida Public Media. She has said she would bring back the enhanced tax credit.

Moody, a former Florida attorney general appointed to the Senate by Governor Ron DeSantis, voted against extending the credit in 2025, the station reported. She also voted that year to reduce federal Medicaid spending.

Replies to the clip on X were split. Some users welcomed the man's change of heart, while others criticised him for not supporting universal healthcare sooner.

'Nobody wants to understand how important this is until it directly affects them,' one wrote. Another was less forgiving: 'They didn't want this when they had the option right?'

The video was published six days before Floridians go to the polls on Tuesday 3 November. The man in the clip has not said which candidate he will support.