A volunteer firefighter for more than three decades, Brian McQueen got the grim news on Dec. 24, 2013.
For about two months, the former chief of the Whitesboro Fire Department thought he had a bad cold. But he was diagnosed that day with B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He decided to get the best treatment he could at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
He said his health insurance covered much of the $298,000 in medical bills he has received since then. But he has spent thousands of dollars out of his own pocket to cover the cost of traveling, meals and hotels for his many stays near the hospital, not to mention the copayments.