Welcome to Chasing Life. As you no doubt know by now, we are currently in the midst of a government

shutdown. And if you've been tuning in, you know that health care is really at the heart of it.

Senator Sanders, you've said 50,000 people could die from ACA subsidy cuts.

For right now, 1.4 million...

Just this week, CNN's Caitlin Collins moderated a town hall with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders.

It was all about the shutdown.

And there was this one moment in particular that really gave me pause.

What you just said, about 50,000 people dying a year, this is based on studies done from the University of Pennsylvania and Yale.

You take 15 million people off of their healthcare.

By and large, low-income and working-class people, what do you think is going to happen to them?

They don't go to a doctor, They have chronic problems. They will die. So I decided to look into that study that Senator Sanders is citing and it's pretty legit.

In June, researchers at Yale and UPenn sent letters to senators with their findings, which

were that an estimated 51,000

preventable deaths will occur annually if all the plan cuts to federal health spending are enacted.

I think a health care system is broken. I think it is dysfunctional. And I think it's on the verge

of collapse. Look, perhaps we're a bit jaded from the news cycle.

Maybe we're just tired of hearing politicians speaking in extremes.

But here's the thing.

My guest, who is very much not a politician, she sounds pretty alarmed as well.

You know, I see some things that are hopeful and some things that are not.

The question is, will they be addressed before the system just really falls apart?

Because I think it's pretty close to doing so.

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