Jeff Mason, 76, drives Uber nights and weekends to offset financial ruin from his wife’s cancer treatment. The New Jersey resident liquidated his IRA, sold his car, and remortgaged his home after hospitals refused to honor COBRA insurance during her care. Bills totaled $300,000, including a $246,000 hospital charge, forcing the couple to rebuild credit over 13 years.

Mason now earns up to $1,000 weekly through ridesharing, avoiding further IRA withdrawals. His story highlights systemic gaps in pre-ACA medical coverage and the precarity of elder financial stability.